ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS 

BEARING  CHIEFLY  ON 

EDUCATION. 


RICHARD  McILWAINE,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


RICHMOND,  VA.: 
Wkittet  &  Shkppkrson,  Pkintiri 


COPYKIGHTED,  I908. 
BY 

Richard  McIlwaine. 


PREFACE. 

The  leading  motive  in  issuing  this  volume  is  to  put 
its  contents  in  permanent  shape,  easily  obtainable  by 
readers  who  care  to  become  acquainted  with  them.  Eight 
of  its  twelve  components  are  already  in  print  but  in  such 
form  as  to  be  inaccessible  to  most  persons. 

The  other  four  numbers  (VII-X),  connected  closely 
with  Public  School  work,  are  believed  to  be  of  equal 
value  and  in  the  present  state  of  educational  progress 
throughout  Virginia  and  the  South  to  be  distinctly  in 
accord  with  it. 

The  papers  about  Hampden-Sidney  College  give  some 
account  of  the  oldest  institution  for  higher  education  in 
the  South,  the  College  of  William  and  Mary  alone  ex- 
cepted. It  still  stands  after  a  century  and  a  quarter  of 
active  collegiate  work,  and  deserves  the  regard  of  all 
lovers  of  sound  learning  coupled  with  high  ideals  of 
personal  character.  Several  of  her  younger  sisters  in 
Virginia  have  outstripped  her  in  equipment  and  number 
of  matriculates  but  none  in  fitting  men  for  high  and 
noble  usefulness  in  life.  The  whole  volume,  especially 
the  biographical  sketches  and  the  two  concluding  ad- 
dresses, will  be  found  to  contain  much  adapted  to  awaken 
the  aspirations  of  ingenuous  youth,  along  with  the  desire 
to  lead  pure  and  honorable  lives :  "to  make  the  most  of 
themselves"  as  citizens  of  a  free  government  and  im- 
mortal beings,  destined  to  a  never-ending  existence. 

The  Author. 
Richmondy  Va.,  September  /,  i<p8. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/addressespapersbOOmciliala 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Inaugural  Address.    (Hampden-Sidney,  Virginia,  June  13. 

1883).,   8 

The  Relation  and  Services  of  Hampden-Sidney  College  to 
THE  Presbyterian  Church  and  to  the  Cause  of  Edu- 
cation and  Religion.  (Seoond  Presbyterian  Church, 
Richmond,  Virginia,  February  5,  1888) .,  21 

Hampden-Sidney  College  as  an  Educational  Force,  From 
THE  War  of  the  Revolution,  to  the  War  Between 
the  States.  (Memorial  Chapel,  Hampden-Sidney, 
April  20,  1903) .,  39 

Does  College  Education  Pay?   (Issued  and  circulated  about 

1896  or  1897).,  66 

Lewis  Littlepage  Holladay.    (Hampden-Sidney  Magazine, 

April,  1892) ., 72 

Some  Essentials  in  the  Improvement  of  Our  Public 
Schools.  (Opera  House,  Farmville,  Virginia,  Sep- 
tember 16,  1902) .,  81 

Local  Taxation  for  Public  Schools  Under  the  Present 
State  Constitution.  (Cooperative  Education  Com- 
mission, University  of  Virginia,  July,  1904) 96 


6  CONTENTS.  Pagb 

The  Relation  of  the  Citizen  to  the  Public  Schools. 
(Hampton,  Virginia,  December  7,  1904,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Co-operative  Education  Commission).,  109 

The  Family  and  the  School.  (Second  Presbyterian  Church, 

Richmond,  January  6,  1905).,  124 

Matthew  Fontaine  Maury.  (The  Public  School  Teachers 
and  older  Pupils,  Manchester,  Virginia,  April  14, 
190S).,    134 

President  William  McKinley.  (Memorial  Service  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  Virginia,  September  19, 
1901).,    153 

Suffrage.    (Democratic    Conference    of    the    Constitutional 

Convention,  January  6,   1902) .,    i6l 


ADDRESSES  and  PAPERS  BEAR- 
ING CHIEFLY^;/  EDUCATION. 


INAUGURAL   ADDRESS. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees: 

IN  assuming  the  duties  to  which  you  have  called  me, 
I  do  so  with  diffidence  coupled  with  hopefulness. 
I  am  abashed  when  I  think  that  I  am  to  be  the  successor 
of  the  Smiths,  and  of  Alexander,  Hoge,  Gushing,  Carroll, 
Maxwell,  Sparrow,  Green  and  Atkinson ;  but  I  am  com- 
forted by  the  thought  that  their  virtues  are  imitable,  and 
that  their  strength  was  in  God.  I  am  cheered,  too,  by 
the  consideration  that  I  am  the  unanimous'  choice  of  your 
honorable  body  for  this  high  position ;  that  your  selection 
was  not  based  on  friendly  solicitation  or  on  evidence 
furnished  by  others,  but  upon  your  own  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  my  character,  attainments  and  mode  of  life,  and 
that  I  have  the  assurance  of  your  cordial  cooperation  in 
any  efforts  I  may  make  to  enlarge  and  extend  the  use- 
fulness of  the  College  whose  interests  are  entrusted  to 
your  care.  Permit  me  to  say  that  there  is  no  body  of 
gentlemen  with  whom  I  would  prefer  to  be  associated. 
It  has  been  my  fortune  to  be  acquainted  with  many  of 
the  good  and  great,  but  I  have  met  none  whose  senti- 
ments and  aims  seem  to  me  to  be  more  exalted  or  which 
more  entirely  secure  my  sympathy  and  approval;  and  I 
confidently  anticipate  both  profit  and  pleasure  from  the 
relations  we  are  to  sustain  to  one  another  in  the  future. 


8  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

I  esteem  myself  happy,  too,  on  being  inducted  into 
office,  to  believe  that  my  colleagues  in  the  Faculty  are, 
without  exception,  "the  right  men  in  the  right  place," 
who  could  not  be  profitably  exchanged  for  any  others, 
and  that  they  have  the  entire  approval  not  only  of  your- 
selves but  of  all  the  friends  of  the  College.  I  will  be 
pardoned,  I  am  sure,  for  special  allusion  to  the  unalloyed 
pleasure  I  feel  in  the  reestablishment  of  close  personal 
relations  with  our  senior  professor,  who,  as  my  class- 
mate at  Hampden-Sidney  and  room-mate  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Virginia,  and  the  unwavering  friend  of  my  whole 
life,  is  "grappled  to  my  soul  with  hooks  of  steel";  who 
has  now  served  the  College  longer  than  any  person  in  its 
history,  and  with  an  intelligence,  fidelity  and  success 
surpassed  by  none,  and  to  whom  she  owes  a  debt  of 
gratitude  which  I  trust  it  may  be  in  your  power,  as  I 
know  it  will  be  your  pleasure,  to  recognize  in  some  sub- 
stantial form  at  no  distant  day.  Nor  can  I  forbear  to 
express  my  personal  regret  that  I  shall  be  deprived  of  the 
counsel  and  intelligent  assistance  of  Professor  Kemper, 
whose  kindness  and  urbanity,  together  with  his  zeal  for 
the  College,  have  won  for  him  the  respectful  and  affec- 
tionate regard  of  us  all,  especially  of  those  whose  sons 
at  times  have  needed  and  received  his  generous  assist- 
ance. I  am  sure  he  will  carry  with  him  the  warm  regards 
and  best  wishes  of  a  host  of  friends,  and  that  we  will 
all  be  glad  to  know  of  his  future  success  and  happiness. 
I  should  be  recreant  to  my  feelings  did  I  not  make  some 
worthy  mention  of  our  valued  friend  and  associate,  our 
honored  ex-President,  Dr.  Atkinson,  of  whom  I  am 
rejoiced  to  speak  as  Professor  Emeritus  of  Mental  and 
Moral  Philosophy,  and  to  say  that  his  name  and  fame 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  9 

will  continue  to  be  linked  with  those  of  the  College,  and 
that  if  returning  health  shall  permit,  his  services  will  still 
be  at  her  command.  The  silent  influence  of  such  a  man 
amongst  us  is  a  heritage  of  inestimable  value,  and  should 
the  good  providence  of  God  restore  him  to  association 
with  our  young  men  and  to  participation  in  their  instruc- 
tion, we  will  all  regard  it  as  a  priceless  blessing.  It  is  to 
me,  too,  a  pleasing  reflection  that  my  official  life  begins 
here  at  a  time  when,  by  the  testimony  of  all,  there  is 
enrolled  on  our  catalogue  a  list  of  students  whose  zeal  in 
study  has  never  been  surpassed,  and  whose  amiable  bear- 
ing, and  refined  demeanor,  and  gentlemanly  conduct  do 
honor  to  the  institution  of  which  they  are  members,  and 
give  promise  of  the  happiest  state  of  things  for  the 
future. 

I  find  much,  then,  in  the  Board  of  Trustees,  in  the 
Faculty  and  among  the  students  to  encourage  me  on 
assuming  a  position  which  in  some  of  its  aspects,  will  be 
one  of  difficulty,  and  the  responsibilities  of  which  no  wise 
man  would  willingly  seek.  And  I  am  persuaded  that  if 
the  members  of  our  institution  continue  united  in  mutual 
regard,  and  stand  together  in  the  discharge  of  their  sev- 
eral duties,  and  all  labor  in  their  places  for  her  highest 
interests,  it  is  no  uncertain  prophecy  to  say  that  the 
burdens  of  none  will  be  too  heavy,  and  that  a  glorious 
success  will  crown  our  efforts. 

As  we  gather  here  to-day,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  we 
celebrate  the  centennial  of  the  corporate  life  of  Hamp- 
den-Sidney.  It  was  in  1783  our  College  was  chartered  by 
the  Legislature  of  Virginia  and  entered  upon  its  career 
of  usefulness  as  one  of  the  collegiate  institutions  of  the 
land,  it  having  previously  existed  only  as  a  private  enter- 
prise under  the  care  of  Hanover  Presbytery,     It  was 


10  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

established  to  be  a  seat  of  sound  learning,  of  religion 
and  of  good  morals,  and  such,  under  various  vicissitudes, 
it  has  continued,  until  we  find  it  to-day  stronger  in  every 
real  element  of  streigth  (except  in  its  chief  officer  and  the 
nimiber  of  students)  than  it  has  ever  been  before.  Its 
Faculty  is  larger  and  more  able;  its  endowment,  lament- 
ably small  as  it  is,  is  more  ample;  its  surroundings  are 
more  pleasant ;  its  friends  are  more  numerous ;  its  culture 
is  broader  and  higher;  its  influence  is  more  salutary  and 
extensive;  its  prospects  are  brighter  than  at  any  former 
period.  The  labors,  prayers  and  sacrifices  of  her  friends 
in  the  past  have  not  been  in  vain.  The  vigilance  of  her 
trustees  has  borne  fruit.  The  self-denials  and  labors  of 
her  Faculty  have  achieved  a  gratifying  success.  The  love 
of  her  sons  is  her  strength  and  hope.  Her  diploma  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  best  in  the  land.  Her  name  is 
never  mentioned  except  with  respect,  for  there  is  here 
no  sham  and  no  pretension,  but  solid  work  and  useful 
results. 

But  having  said  this,  shall  we  not  candidly  confess 
that  "we  have  not  yet  attained,  neither  are  we  already 
perfect."  The  fathers  builded  wisely.  Their  descend- 
ants have  done  something  in  carrying  out  their  designs. 
Much  yet  remains  to  be  accomplished.  I  will  not  be 
esteemed  wanting  in  reverence  if  I  say  that  the  College 
is  not  quite  up  to  the  demands  of  the  present  age  in  some 
respects,  and  that  while  she  stands  before  us  as  a  vener- 
able matron  to  be  loved,  and  honored,  and  revered,  she 
needs  to  be  more  beautifully  arrayed,  and  more  tenderly 
cherished,  and  more  bountifully  sustained  than  she  has 
been.  The  loyal  hearts  of  the  people  of  this  portion  of 
the  State,  and  of  the  Presbyterians  throughout  our  whole 
Synod,  must  be  rallied  to  her  support. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  1 1 

Hampden-Sidney  is  the  only  College  in  Southside 
Virginia,  from  Piedmont  to  the  sea.  It  was  established 
to  meet  the  wants  and  contribute  to  the  welfare  of  this 
entire  section,  and  while  Presbyterian  in  origin,  it  was 
designed  by  expressed  enactment  to  be,  as  it  has  always 
been,  undenominational  in  its  instructions.  Our  fathers 
said,  "though  the  strictest  regard  should  be  paid  to  the 
morals  of  the  youth,  and  worship  carried  on  evening 
and  morning  in  the  Presbyterian  way,  yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  all  possible  care  should  be  taken  that  no  undue 
influence  shall  be  used  *  *  *  to  bias  the  judgment 
of  any;  but  that  all  of  every  denomination  shall  fully 
enjoy  their  own  religious  sentiments,  and  be  at  liberty 
to  attend  that  mode  of  worship  that  either  custom  or 
conscience  makes  most  agreeable  to  them,  when  and 
where  they  may  have  an  opportunity  of  enjoying  it." 

Hampden-Sidney  is  the  only  College  in  Virginia, 
West  Virginia  and  Maryland  which,  being  founded  by 
Presbyterians,  maintains  a  prevailing  Christian  and 
Presbyterian  influence.  Her  usefulness,  then,  should  ex- 
tend to  all  classes  and  denominations  throughout  South- 
side  Virginia,  and  to  Presbyterians  in  the  whole  Synod 
and  to  the  descendants  of  Virginia  Presbyterians  every- 
where. She  has  claims  upon  these  such  as  no  other 
literary  institution  can  assert,  and  she  must  be  kept  true 
to  the  mark  of  securing  a  high  literary  and  scientific 
education,  and  at  the  same  time  of  furnishing  that  social, 
moral  and  religious  culture,  without  which  our  institu- 
tions of  higher  grade  will  necessarily  degenerate  into 
skepticism  and  immorality.  The  character  of  the  gentle- 
men who  compose  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  Faculty 
gives  ample  assurance  that  these  high  ends  will  be  kept 
continually  in  view,  and  our  fellow-citizens  and  brother 


12  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Presbyterians  may  rest  assured,  in  committing  their  sons 
to  our  guidance,  that  we  will  do  our  best  to  send  them 
home,  at  the  end  of  their  college  course,  not  only  ripe 
scholars,  but  refined  Christian  gentlemen,  whose  aspira- 
tion in  life  shall  be  to  do  their  work  well,  and  to  work 
for  the  cause  of  truth,  and  of  God,  and  of  their  country. 
The  question  has  been  widely  and  seriously  raised, 
whether  in  the  present  state  of  American  society  there 
is  any  reason  for  the  continued  existence  of  such  insti- 
tutions as  Hampden-Sidney  ?  Whether  it  is  not  best  to 
let  our  colleges  die  and  to  unite  our  efforts  in  the  up- 
building of  our  great  universities,  where  scores  of  pro- 
fessors and  thousands  of  students  may  be  gathered? 
Not  to  dwell  on  many  arguments  adapted  to  'weaken  the 
force  of  this  suggestion,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the 
tendency  of  some  of  our  great  literary  institutions  seems 
to  be  largely  skeptical,  and  their  spirit  far  from  what 
serious  Christians  deem  safe  for  immature  youth  to  come 
in  contact  with.  It  is  also  true  that  university  instruc- 
tion, if  it  be  what  it  professes,  is  poorly  adapted  to  meet 
the  wants  of  the  class  of  young  men  whom  the  colleges 
aspire  to  teach  and  help.  It  is  to  be  feared,  indeed,  that 
many  so-called  universities  are  badly  named,  and  that  a 
much  larger  proportion  of  their  students  are  unbenefitted 
than  those  of  our  faithful  and  less  ambitious  colleges. 
It  is  also  clearly  a  mistake  to  say  that  the  gathering  to- 
gether of  very  large  numbers  of  professors  and  students 
is,  of  itself,  conducive  to  higher  effort  on  the  part  of 
either,  while  it  is  certain  that  there  is  involved  in  it  a 
total  loss  of  social  communion  between  the  teachers  and 
the  taught,  and  of  the  personal  example  and  stimulus 
which  are  such  important  elements  in  the  proper  training 
of  the  young. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  13 

It  may  also  be  said  that  most  of  the  students  who 
attend  the  universities  take  only  such  partial  courses  of 
study  as  bear  directly  on  their  life-work,  and  that  the 
effect  of  this  is  hurtfully  to  narrow  the  culture  of  many 
of  our  professional  men.  The  colleges  in  their  prescribed 
curricula  of  study  now  stand  before  the  country  as  advo- 
cates of  broad  and  generous  learning,  and  are  the  chief 
opponents  of  that  contracted  system  of  merely  technical 
education,  which  must  prove  damaging  to  true  scholar- 
ship. Institutions  which  offer  facilities  and  temptations 
to  young  men  to  neglect  important  branches  of  liberal 
culture  are  not  to  be  praised,  but  blamed,  and  whatever 
other  good  qualities  they  may  possess  cannot  be  esteemed 
the  peculiar  friends  of  the  higher  education.  If  the  stu- 
dents prepared  for  them  by  the  faithful  discipline  and 
drill  of  the  colleges  be  stricken  from  their  catalogues 
they  will  lose  a  large  part  of  the  material  from  which 
first-rate  scholars  are  to  be  made.  So  true  is  this  that 
the  most  thoroughly  pronounced,  though  the  youngest,  of 
American  universities  not  only  offers  inducements  of  a 
very  high  order  to  the  graduates  of  other  colleges,  but 
has  found  it  necessary  to  institute  a  regular  collegiate 
department  to  prepare  students  for  its  own  university 
classes,  the  sine  qua  non  of  admission  to  which  is  a 
diploma  from  a  college  of  good  grade.  When  our  other 
universities  shall  imitate  this'  honorable  example  they  will 
occupy  their  true  positions. 

But  the  crowning  objection  to  the  abandonment  of 
our  colleges  is  the  restriction  which  would  at  once  be 
put  on  education,  for  a  very  small  proportion  of  the 
young  men  who  frequent  them  would  ever  be  able  to 
attend  the  more  distant  and  expensive  universities. 
Society  would  thus  lose  the  salutary  influence  of  a  larg« 


14  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

class  of  educated  men,  and  the  depreciation  thus  occa- 
sioned would  be  fatally  manifest  in  all  the  departments  of 
business  and  professional  life.  It  is  impossible  to  esti-^. 
mate  what  our  colleges  have  done  and  are  doing  for  the 
promotion  of  intelligence,  the  inculcation  of  virtue,  the 
establishment  of  freedom  and  the  extension  of  religion 
among  our  people;  and  it  behooves  every  true  patriot, 
no  less  than  every  sincere  Christian,  to  cherish  these 
institutions  as  the  bulwarks  of  liberty  and  the  conserva- 
tors of  society. 

Another  question  of  even  nearer  and  more  practical 
concern  to  us  has  been  mooted  by  some  of  the  best 
friends  of  our  college,  to  wit:  whether  it  would  not  be 
wise  to  change  its  location  to  some  more  accessible  point, 
and  perhaps  to  the  suburbs  of  one  of  our  larger  cities? 
It  is  alleged  that  remoteness  from  the  great  centres  of 
life  and  activity,  and  from  the  main  lines  of  travel,  want 
of  contiguity  to  a  populous  community  from  which  many 
students  might  be  drawn,  and  difficulty  of  access,  to- 
gether with  the  fact  that  our  situation  is  in  a  region  not 
naturally  rich  and  fertile,  and  consequently  not  likely  to 
secure  rapid  growth  and  improvement,  stand  in  the  way 
of  its  greatly  enlarged  usefulness.  It  is  vain  to  say  that 
there  is  no  force  in  these  suggestions.  They  are  impor- 
tant and  deserve  consideration,  and  have  been  thoroughly 
weighed  by  those  who  have  the  interest  of  the  College 
at  heart.  But  these  things  are  not  all  that  can  be  said 
and  deserve  to  be  considered  on  the  subject,  and  in  a 
matter  of  such  importance  it  behooves  us  to  "act  with 
much  deliberation  and  on  the  best  advice. 

It  is  obvious,  on  the  other  side  of  the  question,  that 
our  present  location  has  the  prestige  of  the  past  in  its 
favor.     The  memories  of  more  than  a  hundred  years 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  15 

cluster  about  this  spot.  In  days  of  yore  such  men  as 
Patrick  Henry,  William  Cabell,  Sr.,  Paul  Carrington, 
James  Madison,  John  Nash,  Nathaniel  Venable,  Everard 
Meade,  Joel  Watkins,  John  Morton,  Thomas  Reade, 
Peter  Johnston  and  others  of  Virginia's  worthies  met 
here  to  consult  for  the  welfare  of  the  infant  institution. 
The  affections  of  many  generations  of  students  now  alive 
find  their  focus  at  this  point,  and  the  descendants  of 
honored  sires  who  have  long  since  fallen  asleep,  from  all 
parts  of  our  common  country,  look  this  way  with  rever- 
ential, ancestral  pride.  Union  Theological  Seminary,  too, 
the  fair  and  vigorous  and  beautiful  daughter  of 
Hampden-Sidney,  in  the  fullness  of  her  strength  and 
usefulness,  and  destined  to  scatter  yet  richer  and  larger 
blessings  over  the  land  through  her  learned  and  conse- 
crated sons,  sits  here  by  her  side,  and  would  be  left 
disconsolate  at  the  departure  of  her  mother.  Then  we 
have  a  hundred  acres  of  land,  the  gift  a  hundred  years 
ago  of  Peter  Johnston,  the  ancestor  of  many  distin- 
guished Virginians,  among  whom  General  Joseph  E. 
Johnston  will  ever  stand  prominent,  and  many  more 
broad  acres  acquired  by  gift  and  purchase  from  others, 
with  a  commodious  college  building  and  five  professional 
residences,  with  spacious  grounds,  besides  the  steward's 
hall,  and  other  appurtenances,  which  can  not  have  cost 
less  than  from  $60,000  to  $75,000,  most  of  which  would 
have  to  be  sacrificed  by  a  removal.  Then  our  endow- 
ment, amounting  at  present  to  over  $100,000,  has  been 
secured  for  the  institution,  located  where  it  is ;  and  it  is 
doubtful  whether  the  wishes  of  many  of  the  donors 
would  be  consulted  by  a  change  of  place.  Then,  again, 
it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  our  comparatively  secluded 
situation  is  not  a  factor  of  great  value  in  the  educational 


i6  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

advantage  we  offer.  There  is  here  as  entire  freedom 
from  temptation  to  idleness  and  vice  as  can  be  found 
anywhere.  Our  community,  though  small,  is  homoge- 
neous, social,  refined,  literary  and  elevated.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  you  can  find  on  earth  a  higher  moral  tone 
than  exists  in  old  Prince  Edward ;  the  people  are  among 
the  most  upright,  conscientious  and  truth-loving  in  the 
world.  Our  soil,  too,  while  not  rich,  is  generous,  yield- 
ing abundant  returns  to  good  treatment,  and  is  destined 
some  of  these  days  to  be  occupied  by  a  large  and  thrifty 
population.  Then  we  must  remember  that  our  location 
is  about  midway  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  in 
a  section  proverbially  healthful  and  free  from  the  dis- 
eases incident  to  the  higher  and  lower  regions  of  the 
State,  so  that  during  more  than  a  hundred  years  only 
two  students  of  the  College  are  known  to  have  died  of 
disease  on  this  hill ;  that  our  situation  is  in  the  midst  of 
a  population  of  some  230,000  iwhite  people,  who  have  no 
other  college  in  their  section;  while  on  the  north  of 
James  river  there  are  two  colleges  and  a  university ;  in 
the  Valley  a  college  and  a  university,  and  in  Southwest- 
ern Virginia  two  colleges,  and  just  on  its  borders  an- 
other. When  we  consider  the  Presbyterian  population 
of  this  and  other  States'  from  which  we  may  expect  to 
draw  patronage,  our  present  location  has,  perhaps,  the 
advantage  of  any  other.  It  is  not  improbable,  too,  that 
at  no  distant  day  a  railroad  will  come  to  our  very  doors, 
and  that  our  community  will  on  its  advent  be  enlarged  by 
the  accession  of  a  desirable  population,  and  even  now  we 
arc  only  about  an  hour  from  direct  railroad  communica- 
tion with  all  parts  of  the  country.  So  that,  summing  up 
the  argument  on  both  sides,  it  seems  that  the  advantage 
is  in  favor  of  remaining  where  we  are,  and  that  the  ques- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  17 

tion  being  thus  settled,  had  best  be  definitely  set  at  rest, 
and  the  friends  of  the  College  throughout  our  own  State 
and  elsewhere  be  summoned  to  its  support  in  order  to 
make  it  what  it  ought  to  be. 

The  day  has  long  since  passed,  if  it  ever  was,  when 
it  is  possible  to  develop  a  first-rate  literary  institution 
without  an  adequate  endowment;  and  no  college  in  the 
land  has  higher  claim  on  account  of  past  service,  as  w^ell 
as  because  of  its  possibilities  of  future  usefulness,  than 
Hampden-Sidney.  Our  great  want  at  present  is  money. 
We  have  an  admirable  corps  of  instructors,  but  they  are 
poorly  provided  for.  One  of  our  professors,  a  gentle- 
man of  high  culture,  is  about  to  leave  us  to  assume  a 
position  more  attractive  in  some  of  its  features  and  with 
an  ampler  salary.  Two  others,  but  for  their  love  of  their 
alma  mater,  would  long  ago  have  been  drawn  off  by 
tempting  offers  from  other  institutions.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  we  can  retain  our  younger  men  permanently 
unless  we  offer  them  more  substantial  inducements  than 
at  present.  A  professor  ought  to  receive  a  salary  large 
enough  to  enable  him  to  support  and  educate  his  family 
in  comfort,  to  exercise  the  rites  of  cheerful  and  refined 
hospitality,  to  secure  an  abundance  of  books,  periodicals 
and  apparatus  adapted  to  his  department,  and  to  lay  by 
something  for  his  declining  years  and  for  his  family 
after  his  decease.  This  is  necessary  to  his  full  efficiency 
as  well  as  to  the  highest  welfare  of  his  students,  and  for 
the  reputation  of  the  institution  with  which  he  is  con- 
nected. But  we  need  funds  for  other  purposes  besides 
professors'  salaries.  There  are  certain  incentives  and 
stimuli  to  proficiency  in  special  departments  of  study 
through  prizes  given  to  their  most  meritorious  students, 
which  other  higher  institutions  feel  it  important  to  em- 


iS  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

ploy,  and  which  might  well  be  introduced  here,  were  the 
means  at  hand.  Honorable  competition  would  quicken 
eflfort  after  excellence,  and  would  tend  to  elevate  the 
general  standard  of  our  scholarship  and  to  enhance  our 
reputation,  by  sending  forth  annually  a  body  of  men 
peculiarly  distinguished  in  their  special  branches  of  work. 
When  we  look  at  the  external  appearance  of  things 
about  us,  a  catalogue  of  wants  too  long  for  enumeration 
easily  suggests  itself.  Our  college  building  stands  out  in 
the  open  campus,  naked  and  unadorned  as  it  was  when 
the  finishing  touches  were  given  to  it  some  fifty  years 
ago.  It  is  a  very  fine  structure,  solidly  built  and  well 
adapted  to  our  purposes ;  and  the  addition  of  a  cupola,  of 
porticos  in  front  and  rear,  of  blinds  to  the  windows  and 
of  some  comparatively  inexpensive  repairs,  would  make 
it  attractive  to  the  eye  and  delightful  as  a  residence  for 
students.  Our  college  grounds,  too,  capable  of  beautiful 
arrangement  and  display,  mutely  invite  us  to  enrich  and 
improve  them.  The  health  of  our  young  men  also  de- 
mands that  a  well-appointed  gymnasium  for  their  physi- 
cal culture  shall  be  secured,  so  that  their  bodily  strength 
may  keep  pace  with  their  mental  growth,  and  not  be 
sapped  and  destroyed  by  it.  We  need  additional  appara- 
tus for  our  chemical,  and  philosophical,  and  geological, 
and  astronomical,  and  mathematical  departments.  We 
must  have  a  library  fund,  the  income  of  which  will  pro- 
vide books  of  reference  for  our  professors  and  students ; 
and  a  library  building,  in  which,  perhaps,  more  spacious 
halls  may  be  provided  for  the  young  gentlemen  of  the 
literary  societies.  Will  I  be  thought  too  sanguine  when 
I  say  that  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment  the  old 
kerosene  lamp  ought  to  be  supplanted  on  this  hill  by  gas 
or  electric  light?  and  that  the  day  may  come  when  an 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  19 

adequate  supply  of  water  may  be  secured  not  only  for 
all  the  comfortable  uses  of  life,  but  even  to  sustain  a 
little  fountain  on  the  campus,  with  a  little  lake  fed  by 
its  refreshing  streams,  on  the  margin  of  which  shall 
grow  beautiful  flowers,  begirt  on  every  side  by  pleasant 
walks  hidden  among  trees  and  shrubs,  upon  which  the 
boys  and  girls  of  that  time  may  promenade  on  commence- 
ment day,  and  educate  one  another  in  the  art  of  love, 
as  their  predecessors  were  accustomed  to  do  amid  ruder 
scenes.  This  may  be  all  a  dream,  a  fancy,  an  illusion  of 
the  imagination,  but  it  is  pleasant  to  think  of,  and  will  be 
realized  if  the  money  can  be  secured ;  for  the  good  Book 
says,  "money  answereth  all  things,"  which  in  this  con- 
nection means  it  will  do  a  great  deal  for  Hampden- 
Sidney — if  we  can  only  get  it. 

Institutions,  like  men,  are  in  danger  of  embracing 
and  cherishing  an  idea  with  such  strength  and  persistency 
as  to  exclude  other  vital  truths  necessary  to  a  normal  and 
healthful  development.  Such  lack  symmetry,  and  while 
they  may  do  valuable  work  in  an  important  direction, 
they  miss  their  full  measure  of  usefulness  by  failing  to 
produce  the  full-orbed  impression  which  is  essential  to 
perfectness.  In  this  day  no  system  of  education  will 
stand  the  test  of  examination  which  overlooks  the 
esthetic.  "The  true,  the  beautiful  and  the  good"  are 
closely  related.  In  the  development  of  our  institution, 
with  the  view  of  its  attaining  its  highest  and  largest  use- 
fulness, we  must  put  it  abreast  of  our  sister  colleges  in 
all  those  elements  of  refined  culture  which  are  exerting 
so  beneficent  an  influence  in  educating  the  better  classes 
of  our  American  society.  Hampden-Sidney,  looking  to 
the  mountains  on  the  one  hand  and  to  the  sea  on  the 
other,  and  inviting  to  her  halls  aspiring  youth  from  all 


20  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

sections  of  our  common  country,  must  be  prepared  not 
only  to  give  them  a  hearty  welcome  and  to  conduct  them 
into  the  arcana  of  sound  learning  and  up  to  the  broad 
plains  of  high  moral  and  religious  life,  as  she  has  always 
done,  but  must  also  greet  them  with  such  surroundings 
and  furnish  them  with  such  instructions  as  shall  educate 
all  the  better  elements  of  their  natures,  and  stimulate 
them  to  seek  the  highest  improvement  of  which  they  are 
capable  and  at  once  to  do  honor  to  themselves  and  credit 
to  their  College,  and  be  a  blessing  to  their  race  in  their 
future  lives. 

Such,  gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  is  the 
object  to  which  we  should  address  ourselves  in  the  con- 
duct of  this  venerable  institution!  Such  is  the  aim  I 
propose  for  myself,  and  in  which,  I  am  sure,  my  brethren 
of  the  Faculty  will  concur !  Such,  we  invite  our  under- 
graduates and  alumni  and  the  friends  of  the  College  here 
and  everywhere  to  help  us  to  make  old  Hampden- Sidney, 
so  that  as  she  goes  forward  in  the  second  century  of  her 
existence  she  may  continually  grow  more  vigorous  and 
beneficent,  and  dispence  her  blessings  to  Church  and  State 
in  ever-enlarging  measure,  and  everywhere  be  known, 
and  honored  and  loved,  because  of  the  merits  of  her 
sons. 


THE    RELATION    AND    SERVICES    OF 

HAMPDEN-SIDNEY     COLLEGE     TO     THE 

PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH    AND    TO 

THE  CAUSE  OF  EDUCATION 

AND  RELIGION. 

"Because  of,"  or,  as  the  Revised  Version  puts  it,  "For  the  sake 
of  the  house  of  the  Lord  our  God,  I  will  seek  thy  good." — 
Ps.  cxxii.  9. 

THE  Psalm  from  which  the  text  is  taken  is  a  pane- 
gyric on  Jerusalem.  The  point  of  view  from 
which  the  Holy  City  is  regarded  is  as  the  seat  of  the 
theocracy,  whence  proceed  the  law  and  government 
under  which  the  temple  is  maintained  and  the  house  of 
God  is  protected  and  blessed.  "For  there  are  set  thrones 
of  judgment,  the  thrones  of  the  house  of  David."  Its 
stability  and  strength  are  the  defence  of  Zion;  its  wel- 
fare is  the  welfare  of  the  house  of  God.  Therefore,  the 
sacred  writer  continues,  "Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  they  shall  prosper  that  love  thee.  Peace  be  within 
thy  walls  and  proseprity  within  thy  palaces.  For  my 
brethren  and  my  companions'  sakes  I  will  now  say.  Peace 
be  within  thee.  For  the  sake  of  the  house  of  the  Lord 
our  God,  I  will  seek  thy  good." 

The  thought  I  wish  you  to  seize  and  appropriate  is 
this :  that  whatever  institution  is  promotive  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  church  of  God  appeals  to  the  believer  in  God 
for  his  affectionate  sympathy  and  support.  Of  course, 
this  instruction  assumes  the  existence  of  the  fact  that 


22  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

the  church,  as  the  divine  instrument  in  sanctifying  and 
saving  men,  commands  the  profound  regard  of  every  be- 
Hever,  whether  Jew  or  Christian.  To  it  are  committed 
the  oracles  of  God,  the  ministry  of  the  word,  the  admin- 
istration of  the  sacraments.  It  is  the  school  of  Christ. 
In  it  are  found  the  means  of  grace.  Out  of  it,  there  is 
ordinarily  no  hope  of  salvation. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  while  the 
church  is  a  divine  institute,  it  is  found  in  the  world,  is 
surrounded  by  antagonistic  influences,  is  engaged  in  con- 
flict with  the  powers  of  evil ;  and  as  it  has  a  human  side, 
is  weak  and  fallible,  and  must  be  maintained  through  the 
sanctified  effort  and  sacrifices  of  God's  people.  Its  ex- 
istence on  earth  in  every  age  has  been  conditioned  on 
strenuous  endeavor,  and  all  its  advances  have  been  the 
result  of  suffering  and  labor  and  devotion. 

There  are  three  institutions  in  modern  society,  closely 
allied  to  one  another,  on  the  conservation  of  which  the 
welfare  of  mankind  depends.  These  are  the  family,  the 
church,  and  the  state.  In  the  original  constitution  of 
things  they  were  blended  in  one,  the  patriarch  of  the 
household  being  at  once  its  priest  and  its  king,  as  well 
as  its  father  and  teacher  and  guide;  but  as  the  race  in- 
creased and  society  became  complicated  and  interests 
were  multiplied  and  diversified,  it  was  necessary  for 
defence  and  protection,  no  less  than  for  the  culture  and 
development  of  the  community,  that  these  three  great 
functions  should  be  allotted  to  three  separate  and  dis- 
tinct, and  yet  mutually  inter-dependent,  agencies.  From 
the  family,  as  the  fountain  and  nucleus  of  society,  there 
have  emerged,  on  the  one  hand,  the  state,  and,  on  the 
other,  the  church :  the  state,  which  is  entrusted  with  the 
secular,  material  and  temporal  interests  of  the  commu- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  23 

nity;  and  the  church,  to  which  belong  the  nurture  and 
care  of  things  spiritual  and  divine,  and  which  ever  points 
to  God  and  a  better  life.  Each  of  these  is  divine  as  it 
obtains  the  sanction,  approval  and  blessing  of  God,  and 
leads  up  to  God.  Each  is  human  as  it  grows  out  of  the 
needs  of  mankind,  exists  among  men  and  for  men,  and 
is  administered  by  men  for  their  own  interests  and  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  the  race.  Home, 
church,  country !  There  is  magic  in  these  words.  They 
awaken  the  warmest  affections  of  the  heart,  and  solicit 
the  most  earnest  efforts  of  which  the  soul  is  capable. 
Taken  separately,  each  exercises  its  own  peculiar  spell. 
Taken  together,  they  constitute  the  grand  motive  of  life 
— the  sum  of  human  duty. 

We,  my  brethren,  can  never  adequately  appreciate 
our  indebtedness  to  Christianity  for  the  blessings  which 
we  now  deem  inalienable,  nor  can  we  ever  sufficiently 
estimate  the  struggles  by  which  they  have  been  won  and 
handed  down  to  us  as  a  birthright.  It  is  fortunate  for 
us  indeed  that  we  are  descended  from  a  race  which,  even 
before  its  conversion  to  Christianity,  possessed  many 
domestic  virtues,  which,  when  sanctified  by  the  gospel, 
have  led  up  to  the  sacred  conception  of  the  family  which 
now  exists  with  us  and  wherever  the  Protestant  faith 
is  accepted  and  lived  in  its  purity.  It  is  also  no  less  a 
cause  for  thankfulness  that  our  ancestors,  wandering 
away  from  their  remote  homes  in  the  far  east,  and 
settling  by  successive  occupations  in  northern  Europe, 
have,  throughout  historic  times,  maintained  their  love  of 
personal  independence,  and  hating  tyranny,  whether  in 
church  or  state,  have  ever  been  ready  to  defend  the  right 
and  to  proclaim  the  liberty  of  the  subject.  It  ought,  too, 
to  be  the  occasion  of  never-failing  gratitude  to  us,  as  it 


24  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

is  the  source  of  never-ending  blessedness  and  hope  to  the 
world,  that  when  it  appeared  there  was  no  longer  room 
in  Europe  for  those  who  wished  to  worship  God  accord- 
ing to  the  teaching  of  his  word,  an  asylum  was  opened 
for  them  in  America,  where,  after  long,  persistent  and 
successful  struggles,  it  has  been  assented  to  and  agreed, 
that  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience;  that  every 
man  is  a  freeman,  and  that  every  man's  house  is  his 
castle. 

Now  I  assert  it  as  a  fact,  and  did  time  permit,  it 
could  easily  be  proved  from  a  large  induction  of  histori- 
cal data,  that  all  this  has  come  to  us,  directly  and  in- 
directly, through  the  influence  of  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
and  that  it  is  to  the  church  of  God  we  are  indebted  as 
the  chief  instrumentality  in  securing  this  great  boon. 
Without  stopping  to  prove  this,  I  remark  that,  as  a  fact, 
we  find  ourselves  in  the  possession  of  these  noble  benefits, 
at  once  the  gift  of  God  and  a  priceless  heritage,  won  by 
honored  sires  through  centuries  of  strife.  We  enjoy  a 
pure  and  spotless  domestic  life;  we  are  members  of  a 
Christian  commonwealth,  the  church  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  call  no  man  master  on  earth ;  we  are  citizens 
of  a  free  government,  administered  by  the  people  and 
for  the  people,  under  which  every  man  is  equal  before 
the  law  and  entitled  to  "Hfe,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness."  This  grand  heritage  is  ours,  and  we  are 
responsible  to  ourselves,  to  our  fellowmen  and  to  God  for 
its  maintenance.  And  as  we  look  over  the  world  to-day 
and  see  so  large  a  portion  of  it  sitting  in  the  abomina- 
tions of  heathendom,  and  then  to  nominal  Christendom, 
and  behold  an  imperfect  Christianity  producing  imperfect 
fruit  for  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  people,  we 
may  well  rejoice  in  the  beneficent  gifts  of  a  gracious 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  25 

Providence,  and  determine  afresh  that,  by  the  help  of 
Almighty  God,  we  will  defend  and  preserve  them,  and 
hand  them  down,  unimpaired  and  improved,  to  genera- 
tions yet  unborn.  They  are  the  purchase  of  the  virtue, 
intelligence  and  piety  of  those  who  have  gone  before,  and 
these  are  the  conditions,  and  these  alone,  on  which  they 
can  be  conserved  and  perpetuated.  If  America  is  to 
continue  the  land  of  the  free,  and  to  stand  as  an  inspira- 
tion to  the  nations  of  the  earth;  if  the  church  is  to 
remain  pure  from  foreign  domination  and  the  dispenser 
of  the  truth  and  blessing  of  God;  if  our  hearthstones 
are  to  be  preserved  from  contamination  and  the  fires  on 
our  domestic  altars  to  burn  on  with  a  sacred  and  celestial 
flame,  it  must  be  by  the  conservation  and  dissemination 
of  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion,  intelligently 
embraced  as  convictions  from  God's  word. 

It  was  such  thoughts  as  these  that  filled  the  hearts, 
and  nerved  the  arms  and  encouraged  the  efforts  of  the 
fathers  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  inspired  the 
Christian  patriots  of  that  day  to  build  up  a  government 
based  on  virtue,  enlightenment,  and  religion.  It  was  this 
impulse  which  took  hold  of  the  founders  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Virginia  more  strongly,  perhaps,  than 
on  any  other  portion  of  the  people,  and  led  them,  even 
in  the  very  throes  of  the  Revolution,  to  establish  institu- 
tions which  have  ever  since  proved  blessings  to  the  com- 
monwealth and  the  church  of  God.  These  consecrated 
and  far-seeing  men  knew  that  the  struggle  in  which  they 
were  engaged  was  for  home,  for  church,  and  for  country ; 
that  every  earthly  interest  was  involved  in  it,  and  with 
almost  inspired  prescience  foresaw  that  if  freedom  were 
won  it  could  be  maintained  only  by  intelligent  consecra- 
tion to  God  and  the  good  of  society.    One  of  the  most 


26  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

interesting  pages  of  American  history  is  to  be  found  in 
the  annals  of  old  Hanover  Presbytery  in  these  times,  and 
one  of  its  most  important  features  is  the  concern  felt  and 
the  measures  adopted  to  provide  for  the  scholastic,  moral, 
and  religious  education  of  the  youth  of  the  State. 

At  a  meeting  of  this  venerable  body,  held  in  the 
county  of  Charlotte,  in  the  year  1774,  the  subject  of 
Christian  education  was  prayerfully  considered,  and  it 
was  determined  to  establish  an  academy  for  the  educa- 
tion of  youth  on  the  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains. 
In  February,  1775,  this  institution  was  located  in  Prince 
Edward  county,  was  opened  for  students  in  January, 
1776,  and  the  spirit  of  American  independence  being 
abroad  in  the  land,  was  named  Hampden-Sidney ,  after 
the  two  English  patriots  who  sealed  their  love  of  con- 
stitutional freedom  with  their  blood.  The  school  was  at 
once  filled  to  overflowing  with  students,  and  among  the 
first  acts  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  after  independ- 
ence had  been  acknowledged,  was  the  incorporation,  in 
1783,  of  Hampden-Sidney  College,  under  a  charter  broad 
in  its  provisions  and  ample  in  the  privileges  it  conferred. 
In  that  instrument  these  memorable  words  occur :  "And 
that,  in  order  to  preserve  in  the  minds  of  the  students 
that  sacred  love  and  attachment  they  should  ever  bear 
to  the  principles  of  the  present  glorious  Revolution,  the 
greatest  care  and  caution  shall  be  used  in  electing  such 
professors  and  masters,  to  the  end  that  no  person  shall 
be  so  elected  unless  the  uniform  tenor  of  his  conduct 
manifests  to  the  world  his  sincere  affection  for  the  liberty 
and  independence  of  the  United  States  of  America." 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  history  of  Hampden- 
Sidney  has  ever  been  in  accord  with  this  patriotic  declar- 
ation.   Even  during  the  pendency  of  the  Revolution,  its 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  27 

students  were  formed  into  a  company  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  president,  Rev.  John  Blair  Smith,  and 
marched  to  Williamsburg  and  placed  at  the  service  of 
the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth.  So,  too,  in  the 
war  of  1812,  the  young  men,  under  the  command  of  John 
Kirkpatrick,  a  late  graduate,  who  was  then  pursuing  his 
theological  studies  under  Rev.  Dr.  Moses  Hoge,  the 
president  of  the  college,  took  part  in  the  defence  of 
Norfolk,  and  were  for  some  time  in  service.  And  again, 
in  our  late  war.  Captain  J.  M.  P.  Atkinson,  better  known 
to  you  as  my  predecessor,  led  the  Hampden-Sidney  Boys 
out  to  the  field  of  conflict  in  defence  of  what  they  be- 
lieved to  be  the  rights  of  constitutional  government. 

I  mention  these  things  in  order  that  you  may  see  that 
our  college  has  ever  been  true  to  the  calls  of  duty,  and 
that  it  has  a  title  to  the  gratitude  of  the  State  and  country 
which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked. 

But  my  special  object  at  this  time  is  to  show  the 
claims  which  Hampden-Sidney  has  on  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  large,  and  on  the  Synod  of  Virginia  and  on 
this  church  in  particular. 

My  reason  for  bringing  this  subject  to  your  attention 
at  this  juncture  is  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  it  is 
necessary  that  a  large  addition  shall  be  made  to  the  funds 
of  the  college,  unless  its  usefulness  is  to  be  greatly  im- 
paired. Until  recently  our  appliances  and  facilities  for 
education  were  fully  abreast  of  those  offered  by  our 
sister  colleges.  But  such  advances  have  been  and  are 
being  made  by  other  institutions,  that  we  are  falling 
relatively  behind,  and  must  be  distanced  in  the  race  unless 
efficient  and  speedy  means  are  used  to  put  our  college 
in  a  foremost  position  again.  Not  only  have  the  incomes 
of  the  University  of  Virginia  and  of  Washington  and 


28  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Lee  been  enormously  increased  of  late  years,  but  Ran- 
dolph-Macon, and  Richmond,  and  other  colleges,  are 
going  forward  with  surprising  and  gratifying  rapidity. 
May  God  bless  them  all,  for  they  are  excellent  institu- 
tions, doing  excellent  work  for  the  church  and  country ! 
Virginia  has  nothing  in  which  she  has  more  reason  to 
rejoice  than  her  literary  institutions. 

But  while  the  Methodists  and  Baptists  are  thoroughly 
equipping  their  colleges  and  fitting  them  for  enlarged  and 
permanent  usefulness,  shall  the  Presbyterians  of  Virginia 
hold  back  and  allow  their  college  to  fall  behind,  and  fail 
of  the  work  it  ought  to  achieve? 

We  have  at  Hampden-Sidney  a  faculty  of  six  profes- 
sors and  also  a  fellow,  annually  elected  to  give  instruction 
in  sub-freshman  studies.  Our  professors  are  gentlemen 
of  marked  ability,  cultivated  scholars,  exemplary  Chris- 
tians, and  most  laborious  and  earnest  in  the  discharge 
of  all  their  duties.  We  have  over  one  hundred  students, 
the  sons  of  our  ministers,  elders,  and  Christian  people, 
whose  general  bearing,  behavior,  and  studiousness  can- 
not be  excelled  by  any  similar  number  of  young  men  on 
the  continent.  We  have  a  college  building  one  hundred 
and  sixty  feet  long  by  forty  wide,  an  excellent  structure 
of  solid  masonry,  which,  with  some  improvements,  can 
be  made  all  that  is  wanted  in  such  a  building.  Besides, 
we  have  a  commodious  steward's  hall  and  five  profes- 
sorial residences  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation,  and  in 
addition,  we  have  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of 
land,  on  and  in  the  midst  of  which  these  buildings  stand. 

Our  endowment  amounts  to  $110,000,  and  we  have 
a  building  fund  of  something  more  than  $8,000,  which 
we  are  now  endeavoring  to  increase  in  order  to  erect 
buildings  absolutely  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  the 
college. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  29 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  statement  that  we  already 
have  a  good  foundation.  Our  Board  of  Trustees  has 
authorized  an  effort  to  raise  $250,000  in  addition, 
$200,000  for  permanent  endowment,  and  $50,000  for 
buildings  and  improvements. 

As  to  the  location  of  the  college,  I  may  say  that  I 
regard  it  one  of  the  most  desirable  in  Virginia.  It  is  in 
a  portion  of  the  State  where  it  is  greatly  needed ;  is  the 
only  institution  of  high  grade  in  Southside  Virginia  be- 
tween the  mountains  and  the  sea,  and  is  in  a  region 
proverbially  healthful,  and  distinguished  for  its  moral 
and  religious  influence.  Union  Theological  Seminary  is 
immediately  adjacent,  and  the  intercourse  maintained 
between  the  faculties  and  students  of  the  two  institu- 
tions is  mutually  salutary.  Our  community  is  composed 
entirely  of  the  families  and  students  of  the  college  and 
seminary,  and  cannot  be  excelled  for  the  genial  and 
kindly  influence  exerted  on  our  young  men.  The  historic 
associations  of  the  place,  too,  while  not  computable  in 
figures  nor  measurable  by  square  and  compass,  are  of 
inestimable  value  in  forming  the  character  and  moulding 
the  life  of  those  committed  to  us.  It  is  something  for 
our  young  men  to  feel  that  they  are  at  a  place  venerable 
on  account  of  the  mighty  men  who  have  labored  there, 
and  full  of  memories  of  those  who  have  there  been 
trained  for  life,  and  have  illustrated  in  their  work  the 
highest  excellencies  of  which  human  nature,  refined  and 
elevated  by  grace,  is  capable. 

The  needs  of  Hampden-Sidney  are  many.  It  is  im- 
possible to  administer  a  college  efficiently  in  these  days 
without  large  funds.  This  is  a  progressive  age,  and  any 
institution  which  is  not  advancing  must  retrograde.  To 
stand  still  is  to  go  back. 


30  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Wc  need  a  large  endowment  fund,  which  will  yield 
a  regular  and  permanent  annual  income,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  increasing  the  support  of  our  hard  worked  and 
cultured  professors.  It  is  with  professors  as  it  is  with 
preachers  and  doctors  and  lawyers  and  other  profes- 
sional men.  Adequate  support  means  increased  efficiency, 
more  thorough  consecration,  better  work.  We  also  need 
more  professors.  Our  faculty  ought  to  consist  of  ten 
instead  of  six  professors.  We  need  to  make  large  addi- 
tions to  our  library,  and  especially  to  secure  such  works 
of  permanent  value  connected  with  our  different  depart- 
ments of  instruction  as  are  being  continually  issued  from 
the  press.  If  we  are  to  have  a  progressive,  live  institu- 
tion, our  professors  and  older  students  must  have  access 
to  the  best  and  latest  researches  and  discoveries  which 
are  being  made  by  learned  men  in  different  parts  of  the 
world.  We  need  to  found  scholarships  and  fellowships 
as  encouragements  to  meritorious  students,  and  to  give 
aid  to  deserving  young  men  struggling  in  poverty  to 
secure  the  boon  of  education.  Then  we  need  immediately 
a  large  building-  for  lecture  rooms,  society  halls,  library 
room  and  chapel.  This  is  a  want  which  must  be  supplied 
ere  we  can  obtain  much  increase  in  the  number  of  our 
students  or  in  the  enlargement  of  our  influence.  We 
also  need  very  much  a  department  of  physical  culture 
and  a  gymnasium,  with  the  latest  modern  appliances  for 
the  development  and  training  of  the  physical  system. 
The  day  has  long  since  passed  when  it  is  considered  safe 
to  educate  the  mind  without  corresponding  attention  to 
the  body.  It  is  now  a  recognized  fact  that  there  is  a 
most  intimate  connection  between  the  spiritual  and  physi- 
cal natures.  Hygiene  has,  therefore,  come  forward  as 
an  important  study,  not  only  for  the  physician,  but  for 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  31 

the  intelligent  layman,  and  no  college  can  long  maintain 
itself  which  neglects  its'  theory  and  practice.  I  should 
regard  the  man  who  will  furnish  us  with  a  well  appointed 
gymnasium  as  a  public  benefactor,  whose  name  would 
deservedly  be  handed  down  to  posterity  as  an  enlightened 
patron  of  learning.  And  so  I  might  tell  you  of  other 
things  needed  in  order  to  make  Hampden-Sidney  what 
we,  as  Virginians  and  Presbyterians,  would  like  to  see  it. 
I  desire  that  our  college  shall  be  the  equal  of  any  other 
in  the  land,  so  that  our  people  may  feel,  when  they  send 
their  sons  to  us,  that  not  only  in  educational,  moral  and 
religious  advantages  they  have  secured  what  they  want, 
but  that  in  every  other  respect  they  will  obtain  all  that 
they  can  get  elsewhere. 

And  now  some  of  my  hearers  who  have  been  kind 
enough  to  listen  to  me  thus  far  may  be  ready  to  say: 
"Yes,  we  assent  to  all  you  urge.  The  principles  you  an- 
nounce are  true,  and  the  contemplated  improvements  are 
desirable,  but  what  is  that  to  us?  Why  bring  your 
institution  before  us  in  God's  house,  and  on  the  Sabbath 
day  ?  What  have  we  to  do  with  it  ?  What  claims  has  it 
on  us  ?" 

In  attempting  to  reply  to  these  inquiries,  which  are 
legitimate  and  proper,  and  deserve  a  candid  answer,  I 
remark  that  Hampden-Sidney  is  your  college,  and  de- 
serves your  support.  The  Methodists  regard  Randolph 
Macon,  and  the  Baptists  Richmond  College  as  their  col- 
lege, and  in  the  same  sense  Hampden-Sidney  belongs  to 
the  Presbyterians  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia.  It  was 
established  by  Presbyterians,  is  administered  by  Presby- 
terians, and  is  employed  by  Presbyterians  as  their  edu- 
cational institution.  I  suppose  that  five-sixths  of  the 
candidates  for  the  ministry  and  of  the  sons  of  ministers 


32  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

within  the  bounds  of  our  Synod,  who  are  in  a  course  of 
collegiate  training,  are  at  Hampden-Sidney,  and  five- 
sixths  of  all  our  students  are  sons  of  Presbyterians. 
More  than  one-third  of  all  the  students  who  are  at 
present,  or  who  for  some  years  have  been  at  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  are  alumni  of  Hampden-Sidney. 
From  the  foundation  of  the  college  it  has  been  the  nur- 
sery of  gospel  ministers,  and  I  suppose  that  nearly 
one-third  of  all  its  graduates,  besides  a  large  number  of 
its  undergraduates,  have  become  preachers  of  the  gospel. 
Scores  of  our  men  are  now  living  who  are  doing  yeoman 
service  in  the  cause  of  God  and  truth.  If  the  names  of 
the  sons  of  Hampden-Sidney  were  stricken  from  the  rolls 
of  the  Synod  of  Virginia  and  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church,  an  irreparable  loss  would  be  felt.  What  would 
the  history  of  Presbyterianism  in  Virginia  during  the 
past  and  present  generation  be  without  such  names  as 
John  Kirkpatrick,  John  L.  Kirkpatrick,  William  S. 
White,  Theodorick  Pryor,  Benjamin  M.  Smith,  Robert 
L.  Dabney,  Moses  D.  Hoge,  William  U.  Murkland,  and 
scores  of  others,  who  have  drunk  from  the  fountains  of 
learning  and  religion  at  our  old  college?  What  she  has 
been  to  Virginia  and  the  South  may  be  illustrated  by 
what  she  is  to  Richmond.  Not  only  your  own  pastor, 
but  the  senior  editor  of  our  religious  paper,  the  three 
successive  pastors  of  the  Fourth  church,  and  the  min- 
ister just  called  to  the  church  in  Manchester,  are  all 
Hampden-Sidney  men.  So  in  Baltimore,  in  Washington, 
in  Raleigh  and  Wilmington,  N.  C,  in  Atlanta,  in  Selma, 
and  at  many  other  prominent  points  in  every  Southern 
Synod  from  Maryland  to  Texas,  and  from  Missouri  to 
Florida,  and  also  in  Greece,  in  Brazil,  in  China,  in  Japan, 
v/herever  the  work  of  our  church  extends,  there  Hamp- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  33 

den-Sidney  men  are  preaching  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  by  their  pure  and  consecrated  Hves  are 
pointing  and  leading  men  to  God.  Has  she  not  been  in 
the  past,  is  she  not  now  a  power  in  sustaining  the  church 
of  Christ?  May  I  not  ask  you  to  join  me  in  the  solemn 
asservation  of  the  psalmist,  "For  my  brethren  and  my 
companions'  sakes,  I  will  now  say.  Peace  be  within  thee. 
For  the  sake  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  our  God,  I  will 
seek  thy  good." 

But  it  is  not  only  for  its  direct  services  in  training 
preachers  that  Hampden-Sidney  deserves  well  of  you. 
It  has  also  done  a  noble  work  in  educating  pious  lawyers, 
physicians,  merchants,  who  are  leading  officers  and  lay- 
men in  some  of  the  churches.  They  are  found  not  only 
in  Virginia  and  the  South,  but  in  the  far-off  West  and 
Northwest,  and  on  the  Pacific  slope,  and  wherever  they 
go  they  carry  with  them  the  principles,  habits,  and  truths 
in  which  they  have  been  educated. 

But  perhaps  next  in  appreciable  value  to  the  work 
which  our  college  has  done  for  the  gospel  ministry  is 
the  service  rendered  in  the  cause  of  Christian  education. 
It  was  from  Hampden-Sidney  that  the  venerable  Samuel 
Doak,  one  of  its  first  corps  of  teachers,  and  the  founder 
of  Presbyterianism  in  Tennessee,  went  forth  to  establish 
a  college  across  the  mountains.  He  carried  on  the  backs  of 
mules  the  first  library  which  was  ever  on  the  west  of  the 
Alleghanies,  before  a  wagon  road  had  been  cut  across  the 
mountains.  From  that  day  to  this  Hampden-Sidney  has 
been  among  the  foremost  institutions  in  the  land  in  fur- 
nishing Christian  educators  for  our  colleges  and  schools. 
The  largest  institution  in  the  South  is  to-day  presided 
over  by  a  Hampden-Sidney  graduate,  the  venerable 
Landon  C.  Garland,  chancellor  of  Vanderbilt  University. 


34  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

The  present  presiding  officer  at  our  own  State  University 
and  another  member  of  its  faculty  are  Hampden-Sidney 
men,  and  another,  the  lamented  and  gifted  Southall, 
lately  fell  at  his  post  as  professor  of  law.  Two  of  our 
graduates  have  been  presidents  of  Davidson  College; 
one  a  professor  of  Washington  College ;  one  of  Washing- 
ton and  Lee  University;  one  is  now  in  Richmond  Col- 
lege; one  in  the  University  of  Texas;  another  is  the 
noble  chancellor  of  Central  University,  Kentucky;  an- 
other is  the  founder  of  the  Southwestern  Presbyterian 
University,  and  now  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  at 
that  institution ;  another  is  professor  in  your  own  Theo- 
logical Seminary ;  five  are  professors  in  our  own  college, 
and  there  are  many  others  in  colleges  and  at  the  head  of 
classical  and  high  schools,  male  and  female,  throughout 
the  country.  These  all,  without  exception,  so  far  as  is 
known  to  me,  are  serious  and  earnest  Christian  men, 
who,  besides  the  service  they  render  to  sound  learning, 
are  exerting  an  influence  and  doing  a  work  of  unspeak- 
able value  among  the  young  for  Christ,  and  in  behalf  of 
virtue  and  religion.  I  therefore  recall  your  minds  to  the 
words  of  the  psalmist,  and  urge  you,  "for  the  sake  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord  our  God"  to  "seek  the  good"  of  this 
venerable  and  useful  college. 

Another  point  of  interest  in  Hampden-Sidney  for  this 
congregation  is,  that  it  is  the  first,  and,  so  far  as  is  known 
to  me,  the  only  institution  in  Virginia  which  makes  the 
history  and  literature  of  the  Bible  a  part  of  its  cur- 
riculum, and  proficiency  in  this  course  a  requisite  for 
graduation.  Our  students  are  thus  made  acquainted 
with  the  facts  of  Scripture  history,  and  somewhat  with 
the  Bible  from  Genesis  through  apostolic  times;  and  in 
the  senior  class  a  thorough  course  on  the  Evidences  of 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  35 

Christianity  is  given,  in  which  the  students  are  instructed 
in  the  grounds  on  which  our  holy  rehgion  rests,  and 
fortified  against  skeptical  objections  brought  against  it. 
Our  young  men  are  thus  not  left  to  be  carried  away  with 
the  wild  vamperings  of  an  Ingersoll,  or  the  learned  soph- 
istries of  a  Renan,  a  Strauss,  or  a  Baur,  or  the  scientific 
vagaries  of  a  Darwin,  a  Spencer,  or  a  Huxley,  but  are 
guarded  and  instructed  as  to  the  real  foundations  on 
which  our  religion  is  based. 

Had  I  not  detained  you  so  long  already,  I  would  now 
ask  you  to  attend  to  some  reminiscences  of  the  men  who 
have  presided  over  this  venerable  institution.  I  can  do 
little  more  than  mention  their  names.  And,  of  course, 
the  founder  of  Hampden-Sidney  Academy,  Rev.  Samuel 
Stanhope  Smith,  who  became  president  of  Princeton 
College,  must  be  mentioned;  then  John  Blair  Smith,  the 
first  president  of  the  college,  and  one  of  its  first  Board  of 
Trustees;  then  Drury  Lacy,  the  maternal  grandfather 
of  your  pastor,  who,  as  vice-president,  filled  the  office  for 
several  years  with  distinguished  success;  then  Archibald 
Alexander,  who  afterwards  founded  Princeton  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  who  gave  the  prime  of  his  life  to 
Virginia,  and  who,  with  his  colleagues,  John  Holt  Rice 
and  Conrad  Speece,  made  Hampden-Sidney  a  blessing  to 
his  native  State ;  then  Moses  Hoge,  the  elder,  who  came 
to  the  college  in  the  maturity  of  his  powers  and  filled  the 
presidency  with  great  ability,  acting  at  the  same  time  as 
Synod's  Theological  Professor,  and  who  died  in  this 
position — a  man  of  extraordinary  scholarship,  of  vast 
powers  as  a  preacher,  of  wonderful  influence  over  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  people,  under  whom  the  college 
received  the  form  of  an  institution  of  the  highest  grade 
then  known  in  the  State ;  then  Jonathan  P.  Cushing,  and 


36  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Sparrow  and  Carroll  and  William  Maxwell,  the  accom- 
plished literateur,  the  eminent  lawyer,  the  elegant  gentle- 
man, and  the  devoted  Christian ;  then,  coming  to  our  own 
times,  Lewis  W.  Green,  the  eloquent  orator  and  inspiring 
teacher,  whom  all  his  old  students,  and  I  among  the  num- 
ber, remember  with  gratitude  and  admiration;  and  last, 
but  not  least,  J.  M.  P.  Atkinson,  the  devout  man  of  God, 
heroic  and  whole-souled,  who  for  twenty-five  years,  by 
valued  instruction  and  holy  example,  educated  the  youth 
committed  to  his  charge.  The  mention  of  the  names  of 
these  men  is  an  inspiration,  and  I  summon  them  before 
you  and  ask.  Will  you  let  an  institution  for  which  they 
labored  suffer,  now  that  the  age  is  threatening  to  leave 
it  behind?  "These  all  died  in  the  faith,  not  having  re- 
ceived the  promise,  but  having  seen  it  afar  off,"  and  in 
their  names  I  call  on  you  to  come  forward  and  aid  in 
realizing  the  wish  that  was  uppermost  in  their  minds, 
that  this  old  college  should  be  thoroughly  furnished  to 
do  the  work  assigned  it  by  its  historic  position  and  the 
demands  of  the  age. 

I  once  heard  an  eloquent  minister  utter  the  following 
words  before  a  large  audience:  "I  believe,"  he  said, 
"that  if  there  is  a  spot  on  earth  over  which  a  window  in 
heaven  always  stands  open  through  which  blessings  con- 
tinually descend  in  sanctifying  and  saving  power,  that 
spot  is  Hampden-Sidney."  God  has  greatly  blessed  the 
college,  not  only  as  an  educational  centre,  but  as  a  spirit- 
ual force.  The  minister  who  uttered  those  words  was 
your  pastor,  my  friend.  Dr.  Hoge,  who,  from  his  birth, 
has  been  identified  with  the  college.  He  was"  bom  there, 
was  educated  there,  was  for  a  time  in  his  youth  con- 
nected with  the  instruction  of  the  institution;  has  for 
thirty-five  years  been  one  of  its  most  valued  and  honored 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  37 

trustees ;  was  twice  elected  its  president,  and  would  again 
have  been  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  trustees  but  that 
it  was  known  that  he  could  not  and  would  not  leave  his 
charge  in  Richmond,  and  he  is  regarded  to-day  by  his 
alma  mater  as  her  chosen  son,  second  to  none  other.  I 
am  here  now  by  his  invitation,  and  am  sure  that  every 
word  I  have  spoken  finds  response  in  his  breast.  I  would 
suggest,  with  modesty,  that  Dr.  Hoge's  relation  to  the 
college  being  altogether  unique,  and  wholly  unlike  that  of 
any  other  living  man,  it  would  be  appropriate  that  some 
memorial  of  him  should  be  erected  there  in  his  honor. 
I  know,  indeed,  that  his  grand  memorial  is  found  in  this 
splendid  edifice  and  in  this"  noble  church  of  living  souls 
which  I  now  address.  These  are  the  results  of  his  life- 
work,  and  shall  endure  throughout  generations.  But  I 
know,  also,  that  it  would  be  a  joy  to  his  heart  to  have 
his  name  indissolubly  connected  with  Hampden-Sidney, 
which  has  received  so  large  a  share  of  his  affection,  and 
to  which  he  acknowledges  himself  to  be  under  so  great 
a  debt  of  gratitude.  I  suggest,  therefore,  that,  by  the 
endowment  of  a  professorial  fund,  or  the  erection  of  a 
building,  or  the  creation  of  a  library  fund,  this  congrega- 
tion and  Dr.  Hoge's  friends  in  Richmond  shall  signalize 
his  services'  and  perpetuate  his  influence  at  Hampden- 
Sidney.  I  am  sure  there  is  no  man  on  earth  whom  you 
so  admire  and  honor  and  love,  and  that,  whatever  you 
deem  right  and  wise  in  the  premises,  you  will  do.  And 
may  God  add  his  blessing  for  Christ's  sake.    Amen. 

[Note. — To  prevent  misapprehension,  the  following  remarks 
are  deemed  proper:  (i)  The  foregoing  discourse  was  prepared 
for  a  Presbyterian  congregation.  Had  the  audience  been  promis- 
cuous, more  stress  would  have  been  laid  on  what  has  been  done 
for  other  churches,  especially  the  Episcopal,  to  which  the  services 


38  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

of  Hampden-Sidney  have  been  somewhat  marked.  (2)  Under 
other  circumstances,  too,  fuller  mention  would  have  been  made 
of  what  Hampden-Sidney  has  done  in  educating  men  who  have 
filled  the  highest  positions  of  responsibility  in  the  country,  from 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States  down  through  all  grades  of 
governmental  employment,  state  and  federal,  in  all  departments 
of  administration,  judicial,  legislative,  and  executive.  (3)  The 
names  of  distinguished  ministers  and  the  high  educational  posi- 
tions held  by  graduates  of  Hampden-Sidney  specifically  mentioned 
are  those  which  occurred  to  the  writer  in  the  rapidity  of  com- 
position. There  are  many  others  who  richly  deserve  notice,  who 
were  necessarily  omitted.  (4)  Only  three  of  the  distinguished 
men  named  and  alluded  to  in  the  body  of  the  discourse  hold  a 
literary  degree  other  than  that  conferred  by  Hampden-Sidney, 
and  few  ever  enjoyed  instruction  in  any  other  literary  institution. 
Nearly  all  got  their  whole  literary  training  at  this  college,  and 
can  adopt  the  language  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  their 
number:  "As  I  look  back  on  life,  I  attribute  whatever  of  use- 
fulness I  have  attained  and  whatever  of  influence  I  have  exerted, 
to  the  training  and  inspiration  I  received  at  this  place,  while  I 
was  a  student  of  the  college."] 


HAMPDEN-SIDNEY  COLLEGE  AS  AN  EDUCA- 
TIONAL FORCE  FROM  THE  WAR  OF 
THE  REVOLUTION  TO  THE  WAR 
BETWEEN  THE  STATES. 

THIS  institution  is  an  outgrowth  of  Hampden-Sid- 
ney  Academy,  founded  by  Hanover  Presbytery  in 
1775  and  opened  for  students  January  i,  1776.  Its  patrons 
designed  it  to  be  thoroughly  Christian,  but  non-sectarian 
in  its  government,  privileges  and  instruction.  Hampden- 
Sidney  College  was  incorporated  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  Virginia  in  1783  under  a  broad  and  generous" 
charter,  which  has  never  been  altered  or  amended,  and 
stands  next  to  William  and  Mary  among  institutions, 
south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  in  the  period  of  its 
collegiate  existence. 

Rev.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  afterwards  President 
of  Princeton  College,  was  the  first  Rector  of  the  Acad- 
emy, and  Rev.  John  Blair  Smith,  afterwards  President 
of  Union  College,  N.  Y.,  was'  the  first  President  of  the 
College.  They  were  brothers  and  both  graduates  of  the 
college  of  New  Jersey. 

In  the  list  of  charter  members  of  the  college  are 
found  the  names  of  such  well  known  Virginians  as 
Patrick  Henry,  James  Madison,  William  Cabell,  Sr.,  Paul 
Carrington,  Everard  Meade,  John  Nash,  John  Morton, 
Thomas  Reade,  Joel  Watkins,  William  Booker,  Thomas 
Scott,  Sr.,  James  Allen,  Nathaniel  Venable,  Peter  John- 
ston and  others  of  like  degree,  all  of  whom  were  among 
the  founders  of  the  Commonwealth  and  the  defenders 


40  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

of  its  liberties  and  whose  descendants  now  constitute  an 
important  portion  of  its  inhabitants  and  of  the  people  of 
many  states  of  the  American  Union. 

The  land  on  which  the  College  is  located,  a  tract  of 
ninety-seven  acres,  was  donated  to  its  trustees  by  Peter 
Johnston,  Esq.,  a  patriotic  Scotchman,  a  citizen  of  Prince 
Edward  county  and  the  father  of  Peter  Johnston,  Jr. 
(called  little  Peter),  who  entered  the  Academy  in  1776 
and  while  a  student,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  ran  away  from 
school  and  became  A.  D.  C.  to  Light  Horse  Harry  Lee 
during  the  Revolutionary  War  and  afterwards  a  distin- 
guished judge  in  Southwestern  Virginia  and  the  father 
of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  and  U.  S.  Senator  J.  M. 
Johnston.  Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  was  also  grand- 
son of  Peter  Johnston,  Sr.,  who  is  the  progenitor  of 
many  scores  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Virginia  and  other 
states. 

In  estimating  the  educational  value  of  an  institution, 
however  distinguished  its  services  may  have  been  in  the 
production  of  technical  educators,  it  would  be  a  narrow 
view  to  confine  the  scope  of  inquiry  to  the  area  occupied 
by  those  who  have  directed  their  lives  wholly  to  this  end. 
Every  educated  man  is  an  educational  force,  and  what- 
ever may  be  his  specialty,  naturally  and  necessarily,  dif- 
fuses influences  of  a  culturing  and  elevating  character. 
"What  is  that,"  says  Coleridge,  "which  first  strikes'  us, 
and  strikes  us  at  once  in  a  man  of  education  ?  And  which 
among  educated  men,  so  instantly  distinguishes  the  man 
of  superior  mind,  that  (as  was  observed  with  eminent 
propriety,  of  the  late  Ednmnd  Burke)  we  cannot  stand 
imder  the  same  archway  during  a  shower  of  rain,  with- 
out finding  him  out.  Not  the  weight  or  novelty  of  his 
remarks ;  not  any  unusual  interest  of  facts  communicated 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  41 

by  him.  It  is  the  unpremeditated  and  evidently  habitual 
arrangement  of  his  words,  grounded  on  the  habit  of  fore- 
seeing in  each  integral  part,  or  (more  plainly)  in  every 
sentence,  the  whole  that  he  intends  to  communicate. 
However  irregular  and  desultory  his  talk,  there  is  method 
in  the  fragments."* 

On  the  other  hand,  every  intelligent  man,  whether 
trustee  or  professor,  or  student,  who  is  vitally  connected 
with  a  literary  institution,  along  with  what  he  consciously 
seeks  and  attains,  cannot  fail  to  gain  higher  ideals,  to 
imbibe  something  of  culture  and  refinement  and  to  obtain 
a  nobler  inspiration  for  life,  from  the  environment  in 
which  he  is  placed. 

It  would  be  an  epoch-making  revelation,  if  the  edu- 
cative influences  exerted  on  the  original  trustees  of 
Hampden-Sidney  College  by  their  association  with  one 
another  and  their  joint  and  individual  efforts  in  its  behalf 
could  be  fully  depicted.  How  wide,  important  and  far- 
reaching  in  its  effects  on  their  personal  advancement,  and 
on  their  families,  their  neighbors,  the  State  of  Virginia 
and  the  country  at  large  was  the  communion  with  one 
another  in  the  great  work  which  brought  them  together, 
no  mortal  can  reveal  or  even  faintly  trace.  For  example : 
the  name  of  William  Cabell,  Sr.,  of  Nelson  county,  is 
found  among  the  corporators  of  the  college,  as  it  had  been 
among  the  curators  of  the  Academy  from  the  first.  He 
was  a  brother  of  Nicholas  Cabell,  Esq.,  of  the  same 
county.  Several  of  the  near  relatives  of  these  men  are 
found  among  the  early  students  of  Hampden-Sidney; 
notably  William  H.  Cabell,  afterwards  Governor  of  the 
State  and  judge  of  its  highest  court  for  forty  years,  and 
Joseph  C.  Cabell,  afterwards  a  graduate  of  William  and 

*  The  Friend.  Section  2,  Ess.  4. 


42  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Mary  College  and  in  later  life  a  distinguished  and  influ- 
ential member  of  the  Senate  of  Virginia  and  the  inde- 
fatigable and  successful  co-laborer  of  Thomas  Jefferson 
in  securing  the  founding  of  our  great  university  and 
without  whose  persistent  and  intelligent  efforts,  it  is 
probable  that  all  Mr.  Jefferson's  endeavors  would  have 
been  futile  and  gone  for  nought,  f  It  cannot,  indeed,  be 
categorically  asserted,  but  it  may  be  rationally  surmised 
that  the  influence  of  Hampden-Sidney  on  the  elder  Cabell 
and  of  Hampden-Sidney  and  William  and  Mary  on  the 
younger  generation  had  something  to  do  in  smoothing 
the  path  for  the  establishment  of  our  highest  educational 
institution.  Just  as  a  spark  of  vital  religion  in  the  heart 
and  life  of  a  man  is  intended  to  be  a  light  to  the  world 
and  as  it  is  like  to  leaven  which  is  meant  to  diffuse  itself 
throughout  the  whole  social  fabric,  so  education  in  its 
higher,  nobler  aspects  must  make  itself  felt,  and  where- 
soever and  in  whomsoever  found,  show  itself  a  potent 
factor  in  the  upbuilding  of  institutions  and  the  enlighten- 
ment of  mankind. 

If  this  be  true,  then  what  a  mighty  force  must  have 
been  exerted  by  such  institutions  as  Hampden-Sidney 
College  during  the  period  beginning  with  the  Revolution- 
ary War  and  ending  with  the  war  between  the  States. 
What  an  impression  for  good  must  have  been  produced 
throughout  the  State  and  far  beyond  by  the  lives'  and 
example  of  hundreds  of  educated  lawyers,  publicists, 
physicians,  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  others,  who  sat 
at  the  feet  of  the  venerable  men,  who  taught  at  this 
institution  during  those  auspicious  days,  and  who  in 
association  with  one  another  in  the  class-room,  in  the 

t  Thos.  Jefferson  and  the  University  of  Va.,  by  Herbert  B. 
Adams,  p.  54. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  43 

literary  societies  and  on  the  campus',  found  inspiration 
for  effort  and  for  the  high  and  noble  career  to  which 
many  of  them  attained. 

It  would  be  both  wearisome  and  vain  to  encumber 
these  pages  with  even  a  partial  list  of  the  names  and 
deeds  of  the  men  who  studied  and  got  their  inspiration, 
during  this  period  at  Hampden-Sidney  and  afterward 
honored  their  alma  mater  and  themselves  by  serving  their 
generation  wisely  and  well  in  positions'  of  high  trust 
and  responsibility.  Such  an  effort  would  require  more 
than  a  folio  volume  for  its  completion  instead  of  a  brief 
article  of  a  few  pages,  but  it  may  be  well  in  entering  on 
the  special  topic  of  this  paper  and  as  integral  part  of  it, 
to  tell  of  a  few  of  the  sons  of  the  old  College  whose 
illustrious  deeds  may  serve  as  examples  of  many  men, 
equally  or  scarcely  less  distinguished  and  all  of  whom 
must  have  exerted  an  important  influence,  direct  and  in- 
direct, on  the  educational  welfare  of  our  beloved  Com- 
monwealth and  scarcely  less  beloved  Southland. 

Lawyers  and  Publicists. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  in  the  list  of  the  first 
class  which  graduated  from  the  College  (1786)  two 
names,  John  W.  Epps  and  Kemp  Plummer,  occur  which 
are  treasured  as  sweet  memories  by  multitudes  of  rela- 
tives and  admirers ;  both  native  Virginians',  but  the 
reputation  of  the  one  connected  with  his  native  state  and 
the  national  government,  and  of  the  other  with  the  State 
of  North  Carolina. 

Hon.  John  W.  Epps  was  a  native  of  Prince  George 
county;  lived  in  Chesterfield  county  and  later  in  Buck- 
ingham. He  was  a  planter  and  a  man  of  large  means,  a 
bold,  aggressive  speaker  and  had  great  influence  among 


44  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

his  fellow  citizens.  He  was  nephew  and  son-in-law  of 
Thomas  Jefferson,  having  married  his  cousin,  "Polly." 
"His  manners  were  frank  and  engaging,  he  was  highly 
educated  and  particularly  pleasing  in  conversation,  while 
his  character  was  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  high 
opinion  that  Jefferson  frequently  expressed  concerning 
him."  *  He  was  a  member  of  the  National  House  of 
Representatives  for  many  years  and  was  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means.  Later  he  was  a 
member  of  the  U.  S.  Senate  and  resigned  after  1819  on 
account  of  ill  health.  He  is  said  to  have  been  "the  only 
man  who  beat  John  Randolph  before  the  people  for 
Congress." 

Hon.  Kemp  Plummer  was  a  native  of  Gloucester 
county,  and  after  graduation  at  Hampden-Sidney,  studied 
law  under  Chancellor  Wythe.  About  1790  he  removed, 
with  his'  widowed  mother  and  family,  to  North  Carolina 
and  opened  a  law  office  at  Warrenton,  where  he  soon 
became  a  successful  practitioner.  "His  manners  were 
uncommonly  agreeable,  his  speeches  exceedingly  interest- 
ing, clear  and  pointed,  and  his  reputation  for  strict  in- 
tegrity gave  him  great  weight  with  judge  and  jury.  He 
was  soon  at  the  top  of  the  local  bar  with  a  remunerative 
income,  practicing,  besides  at  home,  in  the  counties  of 
Halifax,  Nash  and  Franklin."  In  1794,  he  was  elected 
to  the  Lower  House  of  the  Legislature,  and  in  1815  and 
1816,  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  and  in  both 
positions  rendered  important  service.  He  was  once 
offered  the  high  office  of  Governor,  but  on  the  advice  of 
his  wife  (a  prudent  woman)  declined  it  because  of  the 
expense  of  living  at  the  capital.  When  he  died,  the 
village  newspaper,  "The  Warrenton  Republican,"  said  of 

*  The  True  Thomas  Jefferson,  p.  45. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  45 

him:  "He  was  the  glory  of  our  Httle  world,  the  pride 
of  the  village,  the  ornament  of  the  county,  an  honor  to 
the  Bar,  a  friend  of  the  poor,  the  bold  advocate  of  the 
country."  This  is  high  praise,  and  well  deserved,  but 
the  most  prized  tribute  among  his  descendants  is  the 
name  which,  by  a  long  course  of  honorable  dealing  he 
earned,  "The  Honest  Lawyer."* 

The  career  of  these  two  honorable  gentlemen,  the  first 
begotten  of  their  alma  mater,  fitly,  though  in  some  re- 
spects inadequately,  represent  many  scores  of  her  sons 
who,  as  lawyers  and  publicists,  have  performed  eminent 
services  to  their  country  and  exerted  a  masterful  and 
exalting  influence  over  the  generations  to  which  they 
belonged.  Consider  then,  the  beneficent  effects  of  the 
lives  of  such  men  (sons  of  Hampden-Sidney)  as  the  fol- 
lowing, and  scores  of  others:  William  B.  Giles,  of 
Amelia,  lawyer,  orator,  member  of  Congress  and  of  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  Governor  of  Virginia  and  member  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  Virginia  of  i829-'3o;  Wil- 
liam Henry  Harrison  of  Charles  City  county,  a  student 
of  Hampden-Sidney  in  1789  and  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Union  Literary  Society,  officer  in  U.  S.  Army  from 
ensign  to  general.  Secretary  of  the  North  Western  Terri- 
tory, U.  S.  Minister  to  Columbia,  member  of  Congress 
and  U.  S.  Senate,  President  of  the  United  States,  but  his 
usefulness  cut  short  by  his  untimely  death;  George  M. 
Bibb,  of  Prince  Edward,  a  graduate  in  the  class  of  1791, 
studied  law,  emigrated  to  Kentucky  soon  after  it  was 
admitted  into  the  Union,  filled  its  highest  offices  including 
those  of  Chief  Justice  and  Governor,  served  in  the 
United  States  House  of  Representatives  for  several 
terms  and  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  where  he  distinguished 

*  Dr.  Kemp  Plummer  Battle,  in  The  Kaleidoscope  of  1900. 


46  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

himself  greatly  by  a  speech  on  "States  Rights"  in  reply 
to  Daniel  Webster,  and  occupied  the  position  of  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  under  President  Tyler's  administra- 
tion ;  William  S.  Archer,  of  Amelia,  member  of  Congress 
from  1819-1835  and  afterwards  of  the  U.  S.  Senate; 
William  C.  Rives,  of  Albemarle,  member  of  Congress 
and  of  U.  S.  Senate,  twice  U.  S.  Minister  to  the  court 
of  France,  a  writer  and  speaker  of  wonderful  beauty  and 
power,  "Statesman,  Diplomatist,  Historian,  the  most 
eminent  citizen  of  Virginia!"  (Alexander  Brown)  ;  Pow- 
hatan Ellis,  of  Amherst  county,  a  distinguished  lawyer  in 
Mississippi,  member  of  Congress  and  U.  S.  Senate  from 
that  state  and  U.  S.  Minister  to  Mexico ;  William  H.  Mc- 
Farland,  of  Lunenburg,  afterwards  the  cultured  lawyer 
of  the  city  of  Richmond  and  for  many  years  president 
of  the  Farmers'  Bank  of  Virginia;  Richard  K.  Cralle, 
of  Lunenburg,  the  distinguished  biographer  of  John  C. 
Calhoun;  Andrew  Hunter,  of  Jefferson  county,  one  of 
the  ablest  lawyers  of  his  day,  the  prosecutor  of  John 
Brown,  and  member  of  the  Confederate  States  Congress ; 
Hugh  A.  Garland,  of  Nelson,  professor  of  ancient  lan- 
guages in  Hampden-Sidney  College,  member  and  clerk 
of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives,  and  biographer 
of  John  Randolph;  David  May,  of  Chesterfield,  one  of 
the  leading  lawyers  of  Petersburg  for  more  than  forty 
years,  whose  irreproachable  character  and  cheerful  piety 
were  an  inspiration  to  all  who  knew  him;  William  Bal- 
lard Preston,  of  Montgomery,  member  of  the  Virginia 
Senate,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  and  member  of  the  Virginia  Convention  of 
1861 ;  William  M.  Tredway,  of  Prince  Edward,  Circuit 
Judge  and  member  of  U.  S.  Congress;  Alexander  Rives, 
of  Albemarle,  member  of  Senate  of  Virginia  and  Judge 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  47 

of  U.  S.  District  Court ;  William  Daniel,  of  Cumberland, 
eminent  lawyer  and  law  writer  and  Judge  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals  of  Virginia ;  John  B.  Floyd,  of  Montgomery, 
member  of  House  of  Representatives,  Secretary  of  War, 
Governor  of  Virginia,  General  C.  S.  A. ;  Thomas  W. 
Ligon,  of  Prince  Edward,  lawyer,  member  of  U.  S. 
House  of  Representatives  and  Governor  of  Maryland; 
Thomas  Stanhope  Flournoy,  of  Prince  Edward,  lawyer 
and  member  of  Congress;  Charles  S.  Mosby,  of  Pow- 
hatan, the  leading  lawyer  at  the  Lynchburg  bar  for  many 
years,  "The  Addison  of  the  Virginia  Bar;"  Sterling 
Price,  of  Prince  Edward,  farmer  in  Charlton  county. 
Mo.,  member  of  Missouri  Legislature  and  U.  S.  House 
of  Representatives,  Brigadier  General  in  Mexican  War, 
Governor  of  Missouri,  President  of  State  Convention  of 
1861,  Major-General  C.  S.  A. ;  John  W.  Stevenson,  Lou- 
doun county,  member  of  Legislature  of  Kentucky,  leader 
in  Constitutional  Convention  of  1849,  member  of  House 
of  Representatives  and  U.  S.  Senate  and  Governor  of 
Kentucky;  Thomas  S.  Bocock,  of  Buckingham,  lawyer 
and  member  of  Virginia  House  of  Delegates,  of  United 
State  Congress  1846- '61,  Speaker  of  Confederate 
States  House  of  Representatives;  Stephen  O.  South- 
all,  of  Amelia,  member  of  House  of  Delegates,  learned 
lawyer  and  Professor  of  Law  at  the  University 
of  Virginia  from  1866  to  1883  ^^  ^is  death;  William 
Cabell  Carrington,  of  Charlotte,  lawyer  in  city  of  Rich- 
mond and  editor  of  "The  Times,"  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature but  died  before  taking  his  seat ;  A.  M.  Branch,  of 
Buckingham,  lawyer  in  Texas,  member  of  Senate  of  that 
State,  member  C.  S.  Congress  and  elected  to  U.  S. 
Senate  in  1868;  John  T.  Thornton,  of  Cumberland, 
eminent  lawyer  and  man  of  splendid   forensic  power. 


48  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

member  of  Virginia  Convention  of  1861,  Colonel  of 
Cavalry  and  killed  at  the  head  of  his  regiment;  Roger 
A.  Pryor,  of  Nottov^^ay,  lawyer,  editor,  member  of  Con- 
gress, Minister  to  Greece,  General  C.  S.  A.,  judge  of 
highest  court  of  the  State  of  New  York;  P.  W.  Mc- 
Kinney,  of  Buckingham,  lawyer,  member  of  House  of 
Delegates  of  Virginia,  Captain  C.  S.  A.,  Governor  of 
Virginia;  B.  J.  Epps,  of  Nottoway,  lawyer.  Judge  of 
Dinwiddle  county,  member  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion* of  Virginia  of  i90i-'o2 ;  R,  M.  Venable,  of  Prince 
Edward,  lawyer,  for  more  than  thirty  years  professor  in 
the  law  school  of  the  University  of  Maryland,  Trustee  in 
Johns  Hopkins  University. 

.Physicians. 

The  services  of  Hampden-Sidney  to  the  medical  pro- 
fession and  through  it  to  society  at  large  has  been 
scarcely  less  distinguished  and  influential  than  in  behalf 
of  the  legal  brotherhood  and  statesmanship.  Probably 
as  many  physicians  as  lawyers  have  been  turned  out  from 
the  college  but  as'  their  position  in  life  is  not  so  much 
before  the  public  eye,  they  are  less  known.  It  happens 
that  in  the  first  graduating  class  (1786)  we  find  the 
name  of  George  Cabell,  Sr.,  an  older  brother  of  Judge 
W,  H.  Cabell,  whose  professional  life  was  spent  in  the 
city  of  Lynchburg,  and  received  the  highest  encomiums. 
In  the  class  of  1789,  we  find  James  Jones,  of  Nottoway, 
who  received  a  thorough  medical  training  in  European 
schools  and  whose  distinction  as  a  physician  and  pub- 
licist is  one  of  the  traditions  of  his  county.  In  the  class 
of  1801,  we  find  the  name  of  William  S.  Morton,  son  of 
Maj,  James  Morton,  of  Prince  Edward,  who,  for  un- 
flinching courage  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  received 


I 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  49 

the  soubriquet  of  "Solid  Column,"  which  he  carried 
throughout  hfe.  One  who  knew  Dr.  Morton  well  says, 
"He  was  a  great  man,  physically,  mentally,  and  morally." 
In  the  class  of  1804,  occurs  the  name  of  Addison  Wad- 
dell,  son  of  Rev.  James  Waddell,  "The  Blind  Preacher," 
who  for  nearly  fifty  years  practiced  medicine  in  Staun- 
ton, "a  learned  and  wise  physician  and  a  deeply  read 
metaphysician  and  theologian."  Next  comes  J.  P.  Met- 
tauer  in  the  class  of  1807,  born  in  Prince  Edward  and 
spent  his  whole  life  in  his  native  county,  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Philanthropic  Literary  Society,  surgeon 
in  the  U.  S.  Army  during  the  War  of  1812,  founder  of  a 
medical  school  at  his  home  from  which  went  out  scores  of 
men  well  prepared  for  the  professional  career,  the 
inventor  of  many  valuable  surgical  instruments  and  ap- 
pliances and  a  distinguished  writer  and  practitioner. 
Passing  over  more  than  a  score  of  men  whose  beneficent 
lives  and  services  deserve  mention,  we  come  in  1828  to 
the  name  of  Edward  C.  Fisher,  of  Augusta  county,  who 
for  a  long  series  of  years  was  superintendent  of  the 
Asylum  for  the  Insane  at  Raleigh,  N.  C,  and  a  specialist 
of  high  repute.  In  1831  we  come  to  the  name  of  Robert 
Southgate,  of  Norfolk,  for  many  years  a  surgeon  in  the 
U.  S.  Army  and  held  the  same  position  in  the  C.  S.  A. 
Again  skipping  several  scores'  of  men  whose  lives  were 
a  benediction  to  the  communities  in  which  they  lived,  we 
find  the  name  of  William  D.  Booker,  of  Prince  Edward, 
(i860- '61)  who  has  practiced  his  profession  in  the  city 
of  Baltimore  for  thirty  years  and  whose  eminence  has 
been  recognized  by  the  trustees  of  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity in  his  elevation  to  a  professorship  in  the  medical 
school  of  that  institution. 


so  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Ministers  of  the  Gospel. 

Were  it  not  for  restriction  in  space,  it  would  not  be 
difficult  to  give  the  names  of  some  hundreds  of  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  good  and  useful  men,  who  received  their 
preparation  and  inspiration  at  Hampden-Sidney  College 
and  who  have  done  much  in  promoting  education  in 
Virginia  and  the  South.  There  are  few  more  potent 
educational  forces  to  be  found  in  any  community  than 
the  lives  and  work  of  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  They 
are  of  inestimable  value,  too  little  prized  by  the  thought- 
less but  duly  recognized  and  appreciated  by  intelligent 
people  everywhere. 

In  the  first  class'  sent  out  from  the  College,  there  are 
found  two  men  who  became  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
Theoderick  McRoberls  and  Nash  Legrand,  and  in  most 
of  the  classes  since,  one  or  more  of  the  graduates  have 
devoted  their  lives  to  the  ministry,  and  in  some  cases 
eight  or  ten  are  found  in  the  same  class.  Furthermore, 
during  the  period  under  consideration,  it  was  not  un- 
common for  young  men  looking  forward  to  the  ministry, 
specially  those  who  entered  late  in  life,  not  to  attempt 
a  graduating  course,  but  to  content  themselves  with  such 
elective  studies  as  are  necessary  as  the  foundation  of 
theological  training  and  it  is  believed  that  the  number  of 
such  will  approximate  the  number  of  those  who  received 
their  diplomas'.  Happily  this  state  of  things  no  longer 
exists  to  the  same  extent  at  Hampden-Sidney  or  else- 
where. 

Little  can  be  learned  of  Theoderick  McRoberts  be- 
yond the  fact  that  he  became  a  useful  minister,  but  of 
Nash  Legrand,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  H.  Foote  in  his  "Sketches 
of  Virginia"  gives  an  interesting  account,  in  which  it  is 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  51 

stated  that  two  or  three  years  of  his  earlier  ministry 
were  spent  in  evangeHstic  work  in  Virginia  and  North 
CaroHna  and  that  fifteen  years  of  his  life  were  given  to 
fruitful  and  exhausting  labors  in  Cedar  Creek  and 
Opequon  Churches  in  Frederick  county.  Among  the 
closing  sentences  of  "the  Sketch"  occurs  the  following: 
"Thus  lived  and  thus  died  one  of  the  best  and  most  suc- 
cessful ministers  of  the  gospel  Virginia  has  ever  pro- 
duced." "No  other  preacher  in  the  state  held  his  people 
more  closely  to  the  gospel  standard  or  extended  his  influ- 
ence farther  or  left  behind  a  sweeter  remembrance." 

Passing  over  the  interval  between  1786  to  1825, 
mentioning  only  the  names  of  a  few  men  of  special 
prominence  and  connected,  directly  or  indirectly  with 
education,  such  as  Clement  Read,  of  Charlotte;  William 
Hill,  of  Cumberland,  afterwards  of  Winchester;  Samuel 
Davies  Hoge,  professor  in  Hampden-Sidney  College, 
pastor  of  churches  in  Virginia  and  Ohio,  and  Professor 
of  Mathematics  and  Physical  Science  in  the  University 
of  Ohio;  Jesse  Turner,  of  Bedford;  John  Kirkpatrick, 
of  Mecklenburg  county,  N.  C,  afterwards  the  eloquent 
orator  and  consecrated  minister  of  Cumberland  county, 
Va. ;  Drury  Lacy,  of  Prince  Edward,  afterwards  of 
North  Carolina,  and  President  of  Davidson  College; 
Wm.  S.  White,  of  Hanover,  afterwards  of  Nottoway, 
Charlottesville,  and  Lexington  and  closely  identified  with 
the  University  of  Virginia  and  Washington  College  and 
Washington  and  Lee  University ;  we  come  to  the  name  of 
Thomas  Atkinson,  a  native  of  Dinwiddie  county,  after- 
wards a  student  of  law  at  Yale  College  and  a  practitioner 
for  seven  years,  later  studied  for  the  ministry  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  subsequently  rector  in  the  cities  of 
Lynchburg,  Norfolk,  and  Baltimore  and  Bishop  of  the 


52  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Diocese  of  North  Carolina  from  1853  to  1881.  The 
writer  of  this  sketch  remembers  him  as  a  gentleman  of 
chaste  and  extensive  culture,  of  courtly  bearing,  of  fine 
common  sense,  of  unaffected  piety,  whose  influence  for 
good  was  widespread  and  pervading. 

Among  the  graduates  in  the  next  class  was  Theo- 
derick  Pryor,  of  Dinwiddie,  who  afterwards  graduated 
in  law  at  the  University  of  Virginia  and  practiced  a  short 
while,  after  which  he  pursued  a  course  at  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary  and  became  the  pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Nottoway  county,  where  most  of  his 
ministerial  life  was  spent  and  where  he  was  identified 
with  every  important  interest  of  the  people,  a  man  of 
the  highest  and  purest  character,  a  preacher  of  impres- 
siveness  and  force  and  surpassed  by  few  in  effective 
power  of  presenting  important  truth,  a  diligent  and  be- 
loved pastor  and  friend.  Few  men  ever  had  more  or 
warmer  admirers  or  did  more  during  about  sixty  years 
of  active  service  in  the  advancement  of  truth  and  right. 

The  class  of  1829  was  remarkable  in  that  of  nine 
members,  six  became  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  one 
(Landon  C.  Garland)  a  distinguished  educator.  Of  the 
ministers,  two  were  Episcopalians  and  four  Presbyte- 
rians, one  of  each  set,  besides  a  long  and  fruitful  min- 
istry, did  much  for  the  promotion  of  education.  The 
first  of  these  is  Geo.  W.  Dame,  a  native  of  Manchester, 
N.  H.,  and  nephew  of  Jonathan  P.  Gushing,  at  that  time 
President  of  Hampden-Sidney  Gollege.  After  his  grad- 
uation Dr.  Dame  was  Professor  of  Physical  Science  in 
the  College.  He  then  studied  privately  for  the  ministry 
and  was  rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Danville  for 
more  than  a  half  century,  during  most  of  which  time  he 
was  at  the  head  of  an  academy  for  young  ladies,  from 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  $3 

which  many  of  the  best  women  of  Virginia  were  turned 
out.  The  other  was  Benjamin  M.  Smith,  of  Powhatan, 
afterwards  pastor  of  the  churches  of  Danville,  Tinkling 
Springs  and  Staunton,  and  for  nearly  forty  years  Pro- 
fessor of  Oriental  Languages  in  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  Dr.  Smith  was  author  of  a  commentary  on 
the  Psalms  and  Proverbs  and  was'  a  luminous  and  exten- 
sive writer  on  other  subjects ;  a  genial  gentleman,  an 
indefatigable  worker,  for  many  years  trustee  in  Wash- 
ington College  and  Washington  and  Lee  University,  and 
did  more  to  promote  the  solid  prosperity  and  usefulness 
of  Union  Theological  Seminary  than  any  man  who  has 
yet  lived,  except  Dr.  John  Holt  Rice,  its  eminent  founder 
and  first  professor. 

In  the  class  of  1832  appears  the  name  of  John  L. 
Kirkpatrick,  of  Mecklenburg  county,  N.  C,  pastor  in 
Lynchburg,  Va.,  Gainesville,  Ala.,  and  Charleston,  S.  C, 
President  of  Davidson  College  from  i860- '66  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Moral  Philosophy  in  Washington  and  Lee  Uni- 
versity from  1866  till  his  death. 

In  the  class  of  1835,  we  find  the  name  of  J.  M.  P. 
Atkinson,  of  Dinwiddle  county,  brother  of  Bishop 
Thomas'  Atkinson,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  in  early  life 
a  missionary  in  Texas,  afterwards  pastor  at  Warrenton, 
Va.,  and  Georgetown,  D.  C,  and  for  twenty-six  years 
President  of  Hampden-Sidney  College.  He  was  a  man 
whose  character  was  clear  as  crystal,  of  undaunted  cour- 
age, firm  in  his  convictions  and  courteous  in  their  expres- 
sion. As  captain  of  the  "Hampden-Sidney  Boys'"  he 
took  part  in  the  fight  at  Rich  Mountain  in  1865  and  after 
the  capture  of  Pegram's  command  returned  to  college, 
brought  it  safely  through  the  war  and  reconstruction 


54  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

times  down  to  1883,  when  he  died,  honored  and  beloved 
by  all  who  knew  him. 

Passing  by  a  number  of  distinguished  and  useful  men, 
we  come  in  1839  to  the  name  of  Moses  Drury  Hoge,  born 
at  Hampden-Sidney  in  1818,  while  his  father  was  pro- 
fessor and  his  grandfather  was  President  of  the  College, 
the  pastor  for  fifty-five  years  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  Richmond,  of  which  he  was  the  founder,  con- 
ducting a  school  for  young  ladies  (about  1850)  several 
years  that  he  might  give  his  salary  to  the  church  building 
which  now  stands  as  a  monument  to  his  unselfish  devo- 
tion; the  humble  man  of  God,  the  true  patriot,  the 
eloquent  preacher,  for  more  than  forty-five  years  the 
trustee  and  untiring  friend  of  his  alma  mater,  ever  ready 
to  help  in  every  good  cause,  for  years  before  his  death 
the  foremost  citizen  of  the  commonwealth,  and  who  on 
the  occasion  of  the  50th  anniversary  of  his  pastorate 
received  tributes  of  honor,  esteem  and  affection  from  all 
classes  of  citizens,  including  Jews,  Catholics,  and  un- 
believers, such  as  perhaps  were  never  before  accorded 
to  any  man  in  Virginia. 

And  so  the  list  of  such  ministers  might  be  extended 
indefinitely  in  telling  of  John  B.  Shearer,  of  Campbell 
county,  who,  while  minister  in  Halifax,  founded  Cluster 
Springs  Academy,  was  afterwards  the  reviver  and  Presi- 
dent of  Stewart  College,  Tenn.,  out  of  which,  chiefly  by 
his  exertions,  the  South  Western  Presbyterian  University 
grew,  and  who  next  was  President  of  Davidson  College, 
N.  C. ;  Thomas  Wharey,  of  Prince  Edward,  who  on  ac- 
count of  his  fervid  and  persuasive  eloquence  was  called 
"the  Spurgeon  of  Virginia" ;  of  Peter  Tinsley,  for  thirty 
years  rector  of  the  Episcopal  church  at  Walnut  Hills, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio ;  of  Lindsay  H.  Blanton,  of  Cumberland 


I 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  55 

county,  for  many  years  a  useful  and  beloved  pastor  in 
Kentucky  and  the  reviver  and  chancellor  of  Central  Uni- 
versity at  Richmond,  Ky.,  and  its  co-ordinated  schools; 
of  William  U.  Murkland,  of  Baltimore,  for  twenty-five 
years  among  the  leading  divines  and  pulpit  orators  of 
that  city;  of  Robert  A.  Gibson,  of  Petersburg,  rector  in 
Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  and  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  Bishop 
of  the  Diocese  of  Northern  Virginia;  of  Edward  H. 
Barnett,  of  Christiansburg,  pastor  in  Abingdon,  Va.,  and 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  many  more. 

Educators. 

The  names  of  many  of  those  included  under  the  pre- 
ceding head  might  properly  be  brought  under  this  sec- 
tion. All,  indeed,  there  given  have  had  much  to  do  with 
the  advancement  of  education  by  active  and  direct  effort. 
Those  that  are  to  come  were  largely  or  exclusively  en- 
gaged in  this  department  of  work  as'  the  business  of  their 
lives. 

As  far  back  as  1788,  in  the  third  class  graduated  from 
the  College,  the  name  of  James  Blythe,  of  Mecklenburg 
county  N.  C,  is  found.  He  afterwards  studied  medicine 
and  theology  and  adopting  the  ministry  as  his  profession, 
found  his  field  of  labor  in  Kentucky.  Ranke  in  his  His- 
tory of  Lexington,  (Ky.)  says':  "The  first  president  of 
Transylvania  University,  Rev.  James  Moore,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  James  Blythe,  M.  D.,  who  was  born  in 
North  Carolina  in  1765  and  was  educated  for  the  Pres- 
byterian ministry.  He  came  to  Kentucky  in  1791  and 
two  years  after  was  ordained  pastor  of  Pisgah  and  Clear 
Creek  churches.  He  continued  to  preach  up  to  the  time 
of  his  death.  For  six  years  before  his'  accession  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  University,  he  was  professor  of  math- 


56  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

ematics  and  natural  philosophy  and  often  supplied  the 
pulpit  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church.  He  was  presi- 
dent for  nearly  fifteen  years  and  after  his  resignation 
filled  the  chair  of  chemistry  in  the  medical  college  until 
1 83 1,  when  he  accepted  the  Presidency  of  Hanover  Col- 
lege, Ind.,  which  prospered  greatly  under  his  charge."* 

In  the  class  of  1791  looms  up  the  name  of  Moses 
Waddell,  of  Iredell  county,  N.  C,  who  was  afterwards 
closely  connected  with  the  States  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  in  the  capacity  of  preacher,  teacher,  and  presi- 
dent of  Franklin  College,  out  of  which  the  University 
of  Georgia  grew.  So  rapid  and  solid  was  his  progress"  as 
a  boy  at  school  that  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years  his  ser- 
vices as  a  teacher  were  sought,  which  profession  he 
followed  for  six  or  seven  years  until  he  entered 
Hampden-Sidney  as  a  student.  After  his  ordination  to 
the  ministry,  he  gave  his  life  chiefly  to  teaching,  and 
founded  the  famous  Academy  at  Willington,  S.  C,  at 
which  such  men  of  national  reputation  as  John  C.  Cal- 
houn, Legare,  McDuffie,  and  Petigru  of  South  Carolina, 
and  Cobb,  Longstreet,  Crawford,  Gilmer,  and  Appling  of 
Georgia,  received  their  youthful  training.  He  was  after- 
wards elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the  University  of 
Georgia.  "Of  this  institution,  while  not  the  founder, 
he  was  the  reviver  and  first  successful  administrator. 
Franklin  College,  as  it  was  also  styled,  opened  its  doors 
to  its  first  students  as  late  as  1804,  and  after  fifteen  years 
of  what  seems  to  have  been  sheer  struggle  for  existence, 
there  was  a  virtual  suspension  of  its'  existence  until  Dr. 
Waddell  was  invited,  in  its  darkest  hour,  to  undertake  its 
restoration   and   improvement.      The   invitation,   to   his 

♦The  Kaleidoscope,  1900,  p.  32. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  57 

earnest  religious  nature,  came  like  a  summons  to  a  heaven 
appointed  duty,  and  in  this  temper,  he  began  and  prose- 
cuted the  work,  so  that  in  ten  years  he  had  started  the 
institution  upon  a  career  of  usefulness  and  honor.*  The 
Hon.  John  C.  Calhoun,  who  was  both  his'  pupil  and 
brother-in-law,  says  of  him :  "He  discharged  punctually 
and  faithfully  the  various  duties  attached  to  all  his  pri- 
vate relations.  He  was  sociable  and  amiable,  but  not 
without  a  due  mixture  of  sternness  and  firmness.  As  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  he  was  pious,  zealous,  and  well 
versed  in  theology  generally.  His  style  of  preaching  was 
plain,  simple,  earnest.  He  addressed  himself  much  more 
to  the  understanding  than  to  the  imagination  or  passions'. 
As  a  teacher  he  stands  almost  unrivaled."f 

In  the  year  1813,  we  come  across  the  name  of  Ed- 
ward Baptist,  a  native  of  Mecklenburg  county,  the  son 
of  a  Presbyterian  mother  and  an  Episcopal  father,  not 
only  a  collegiate  graduate  but  a  student  of  theology  at 
Hampden-Sidney  under  Dr.  Moses  Hoge,  and  a  devout 
admirer  and  friend  of  his  alma  mater  and  his  venerated 
perceptor,  afterwards  became  a  Baptist  minister  and 
settled  in  Powhatan  county.  It  is  said  that  early  in  his 
ministerial  life  he  founded  a  school  in  the  bounds  of  his 
congregation  which  grew  into  a  Baptist  College,  and  was 
afterwards  removed  to  Richmond  and  became  the  foun- 
dation on  which  Richmond  College  is  built.  Certain  it  is 
that  he  "held  influence  among  the  Baptists  second  to 
none  in  his  day;"  that  he  was  "a  prime  mover  in  the 
organization  of  the  Virginia  Baptist  Association  in  1822 
and  drafted  its  constitution;"  that  "he  was  also  origina- 

*  The  Kaleidoscope,  1902,  p.  17. 
t  Presbyterian  Encyclopedia. 


58  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

tor  of  the  Baptist  Educational  Society  and  the  Baptist 
Seminary,  and  by  appointment  instructed  a  number  of 
young  men  who  were  students  for  the  ministry."^  "He 
seems  thus  to  have  been  one  among  the  originators  or 
suggestors  of  Richmond  College;  in  a  sense  the  fore- 
runner or  beginner  of  the  work  done  by  it,  though  he 
never  had  any  connection  with  the  college  as  such.  In 
1838  he  moved  to  Alabama,  where  he  did  most  valuable 
work  and  lived  and  labored  till  1863. § 

Among  the  graduates  of  1823  we  find  the  name  of 
Robert  Burwell,  of  Dinwiddle  county,  who,  with  Jesse 
S.  Amiistead,  of  Cumberland  county,  and  Thomas  P. 
Hunt,  of  Charlotte  county — all  graduates  of  Hampden- 
Sidney  College — constituted  the  first  class  in  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  an  institution  which  grew  out  of 
Hampden-Sidney  College  by  natural  evolution,  and  which 
for  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  its  existence  was  main- 
tained on  the  college  premises  and  largely  through  the 
self-denial  and  assistance  of  its  professors.  Mr.  Burwell 
was  a  laborious  minister  of  the  gospel  and  lived  to  the 
great  age  of  ninety- three  years.  From  the  date  of  his 
licensure  to  1884  ^^  was  untiring  in  his  Christian  and 
ministerial  efforts,  giving  about  fifty  of  the  later  years 
of  his  life  to  the  work  of  teaching  young  ladies,  first  at 
Hillsboro,  N.  C. ;  then  as  principal  of  the  Female  College, 
Charlotte,  N.  C,  and  last  as  principal  of  Peace  Institute, 
Raleigh,  N.  C.  During  this  time  he  had  more  than 
twelve  hundred  pupils  under  his  care.  The  influence  of 
his  example  and  instruction  on  the  women  of  the  South 
and  through  them  on  society  at  large  has  been  immense 
and  always  good. 

t  Baptist  Encyclopedia. 

§  Prof.  C.  H.  Winston,  Richmond  College,  Va. 


I 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  59 

In  George  E.  Dabney,  of  Campbell  county  (class 
1826)  we  have  the  example  of  a  man  who  devoted  his 
whole  life  to  education  as  its  chief  end,  first  as  principal 
of  New  London  Academy ;  then  as  Professor  of  Ancient 
Languages  at  Washington  College,  and  afterwards,  from 
185 1 -'6 1,  when  the  college  was  closed  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  Professor  of  Latin  and  French  in  Richmond 
College.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  authorized  to 
take  charge  of  the  college  premises  along  with  President 
Ryland  and  open  a  private  school.  He  died  in  1868. 
Rev.  Dr.  C.  H.  Ryland,  treasurer  of  Richmond  College, 
who  was  his  pupil,  speaks  of  him  "as'  a  man  of  high 
learning  and  fine  Christian  character,  reserved  and  quiet, 
but  of  recognized  ability." 

In  the  class  of  1829  comes  Landon  Cabell  Garland, 
of  Nelson  county,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  educa- 
tors that  the  South  has  produced,  taking  a  professorial 
chair  at  Washington  College  immediately  on  graduation, 
afterwards  professor  and  President  of  Randolph-Macon 
College,  then  President  and  Professor  of  the  University 
of  Alabama,  afterwards  Professor  in  the  University  of 
Mississippi,  and  his  honored  life  was  crowned  as  Chan- 
cellor of  Vanderbilt  University  at  Nashville,  Tenn., 
where  he  died  in  1895.  "If  Virginia  ever  gave  birth  to  a 
man  who  did  more  real  service  to  the  manhood  of  the 
South,  his  name  and  place  would  be  hard  to  find."* 

Although  Robert  L.  Dabney,  of  Hanover  county,  was 
not  a  graduate  of  Hampden-Sidney,  he  was  its  student 
for  two  years  in  the  Sophomore  and  Junior  classes,  after 
which  he  taught  a  year  or  two  and  then  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia,  where  he  took  the  degree  of  M.  A. 

♦  Irby's  History  of  Randolph-Macon  College,  p.  43. 


6o  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

He  always  recognized  his  indebtedness  to  Hampden- 
Sidney  and  was  its  steadfast  and  active  friend  throughout 
life.  In  the  early  days  of  his  ministry  at  Tinkling  Spring 
church,  Augusta  county,  he  taught  a  school  for  boys, 
from  which  some  men  afterwards  distinguished  in  life 
were  turned  out.  From  1853  to  1883,  he  was  successively 
professor  of  Church  History  and  Theology  in  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  a  man  of  extensive  and  accurate 
learning,  a  robust  thinker  and  writer  on  a  great  variety 
of  subjects,  a  bom  teacher,  trained  and  developed  under 
McGuffey  at  the  University  of  Virginia  and  adopting  the 
best  features  of  his  method  and  also  of  that  of  John  B. 
Minor,  diverse  from  each  other  but  both  admirable  of 
their  kind,  and  when  brought  together  by  Dabney,  attain- 
ing as  great  perfection  as  can  perhaps  be  reached  in  the 
art  of  communicating  knowledge,  awakening  thought  and 
stimulating  to  effort.  In  1883  ^^-  Dabney  accepted  the 
position  of  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Texas,  which  he  filled  until  within  a  year  or 
two  of  his  death,  when  he  resigned  on  account  of  im- 
paired vision.  He  was  a  man  of  masterly  ability  and 
exerted  a  great  influence  in  his  day. 

In  the  class  of  1842  we  find  the  name  of  Charles  S. 
Venable  of  Prince  Edward,  which  is  closely  identified 
with  the  educational  history  of  Virginia  and  to  some  ex- 
tent with  that  of  two  other  states  and  which  will  be  borne 
in  honored  remembrance  by  his  old  boys  for  many  years 
to  come.  After  graduation  he  spent  a  year  in  post- 
graduate study  at  his  alma  mater,  also  studied  at  the 
University  of  Virginia  and  subsequently  at  Berlin  and 
Bonn,  Germany.  He  was  Professor  of  Mathematics  at 
Hampden-Sidney  for  ten  years,  of  Physics'  and  Chemistry 
in  the  University  of  Georgia,  of  Mathematics  and  As- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  6i 

tronomy  in  South  Carolina  College.  In  1861  he  was 
Captain  of  the  Engineer  Corps  in  New  Orleans  and 
Vicksburg  and  from  1862- 1865  was  A.  D.  C.  to  General 
Robert  E.  Lee.  From  1865-1891  he  was  Professor  of 
Mathematics  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  during  sev- 
eral years  of  which  he  was  chairman  of  its  Faculty  and 
rendered  important  service  in  enlarging  the  resources 
and  appliances  of  the  institution.  He  was  also  trustee 
for  the  Miller  Manual  Labor  School  in  Albemarle  county, 
and  as  such,  was  of  incalculable  value  in  developing  it 
into  the  splendid  sphere  of  usefulness  it  now  fills.  Indeed, 
he  discharged  the  duties  of  every  position  he  occupied 
with  the  highest  credit  to  himself  and  thorough  satis- 
faction to  everyone  connected  with  him.  His  work,  both 
at  Hampden-Sidney  and  the  University  of  Virginia,  was 
remarkable  not  only  in  the  classroom  but  in  his  inter- 
course with  and  influence  over  the  students.  In  the 
words  of  the  late  Professor  L.  L.  Holladay,  who  was 
both  his  pupil  and  colleague,  "Venable  excelled  both  as 
an  instructor  and  in  his  knowledge  and  control  of  stu- 
dents." Wherever  the  writer  meets  his  old  boys,  they 
speak  of  him  with  admiration  and  affection.  "To  have 
lived  and  worked  with  a  man  so  true  in  word  and  deed, 
so  pure  in  act  and  lofty  in  motive,  so  generous  and  so 
brave,  is  one  of  heaven's  best  gifts.  May  his  influence 
be  everlasting;  his  memory  kept  green  forever."* 

We  now  skip  to  the  class  of  1851,  where  along  with 
other  names  richly  deserving  of  mention,  we  find  that  of 
Robert  Dabney,  of  Powhatan  county,  who  possessed  one 
of  the  brightest  intellects  and  best  stowed  minds  in  the 
college,  a  beautiful  speaker  and  strong  debater,  ranking 

*  Prof.  W.  M.  Thornton  in  the  Kaleidoscope  of  1901. 


62  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

with  P.  W.  McKinney  in  forensic  power  and  his  chief 
opponent  for  the  speaker's  medal  in  the  Philanthropic 
Society.  After  graduation,  he  studied  at  the  University 
of  Virginia,  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Delegates 
t86i-'62,  served  in  the  4th  Regiment  of  Va.  Cavalry. 
After  the  war  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Moral  Phil- 
osophy in  the  University  of  the  South  at  Sewanee,  which 
position  he  filled  until  his  death  in  1876.  His  old  stu- 
dents showed  their  appreciation  of  his  instruction  and 
example  by  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  his  memory. 
In  the  class  of  1852,  we  select  the  name  of  Joseph 
McMurran,  of  Jefferson  county,  nearly  the  whole  of 
whose  life  was  devoted  to  the  instruction  of  the  young. 
In  Green  Academy,  Huntsville,  Ala.,  at  Chatham,  Va., 
as  principal  of  the  Montgomery  Male  Academy  of  Chris- 
tiansburg,  Va.,  he  made  himself  felt.  One  of  his  pupils 
at  the  last  named  school.  Dr.  Robert  W.  Douthat,  Pro- 
fessor of  Latin  in  the  University  of  West  Virginia,  pays 
the  following  tribute  to  his  memory:  "I  was  for  three 
years  during  the  formative  period  of  my  life  under  the 
very  excellent  instruction  of  Dr.  Joseph  McMurran,  than 
whom  I  never  had  a  better  teacher,  more  patient,  more 
polished,  more  impressive,  more  inspiring.  Dr.  McMur- 
ran always  had  a  large  school  in  Christiansburg  and  was 
very  generally  looked  upon  as  another  'Arnold  of  Rugby,' 
the  very  embodiment  of  patience  and  love,  who  under 
the  great  Taskmaster's  eye  lived  to  serve  humanity  and 
in  doing  this',  to  glorify  God."*  He  served  faithfully 
and  courageously  during  the  war  between  the  States, 
after  which  his  chief  work  was  the  upbuilding  of  Shep- 
herd College,  Shepherdstown,  W.  Va.,  at  the  head  of 

*  Kaleidoscope,  1902,  p.  21 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  63 

which  he  was  for  ten  years,  "Besides  the  sixty-five 
teachers  which  he  turned  out  in  these  ten  years,  others 
of  his  pupils  have  entered  all  the  departments  of  life,  as' 
ministers,  lawyers,  legislators,  physicians,  merchants, 
farmers,  queens  of  the  home/'t  Dr.  McMurran  was 
President  of  the  County  Board  of  Education  and  for 
five  years  a  member  of  the  West  Virginia  State  Board 
of  Examiners  and  of  Teachers'  Institutes. 

In  the  class  of  1853,  there  are  two  names  that  deserve 
to  be  kept  fresh  and  green  in  the  annals  of  Hampden- 
Sidney  and  in  the  history  of  education  in  Virginia,  repre- 
senting two  men  very  unlike  in  physical  appearance  and 
in  some  personal  characteristics,  but  both  possessing  fine 
ability,  genial  disposition,  excellent  scholarship,  thorough 
conscientiousness  and  unsullied  piety;  bosom  friends  at 
college  and  throughout  life,  and  not  far  separated  in 
death,  the  one,  Charles  W.  Crawley,  of  Charlotte,  a  Meth- 
odist; the  other,  Lewis'  L.  Holladay,  of  Spottsylvania,  a 
Presbyterian;  the  first  spending  the  whole  of  his  life, 
with  the  exception  of  two  years  as  tutor  in  Randolph- 
Macon  College,  in  the  instruction  of  private  and  public 
schools;  the  second,  with  the  exception  of  one  year  in 
post-graduate  study  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  prom- 
inently connected  with  his  alma  mater  as  professor  of 
Phyisical  Science  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his 
career,  than  whom  no  one  ever  enjoyed  more  of  the 
respect,  confidence  and  affection  of  his  colleagues  and 
pupils.  Crawley  filled  his  place  as  well  as  any  man 
could,  and  was  blessed  by  those  who  knew  him.  Holla- 
day,  in  a  more  exalted  position,  and  exerting  a  wider 
and  more  potent  influence  on  a  larger  circle  of  educated 

t  Kaleidoscope,  1902,  p.  22. 


64  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

men,  accomplished  his  Hfe  work  as  eflfectively  and  use- 
fully— I  had  almost  said,  completely — and  his  name  and 
influence  are  a  benediction  to  multitudes.  Both  did  much 
to  advance  the  progress  and  history  of  education  in  Vir- 
ginia and  the  South  through  the  men  who  came  under 
their  instruction  and  guidance. 

There  still  remain  the  names  of  three  ante-bellum 
students  of  Hampden-Sidney  whose  influence  in  educa- 
tion has  been  so  potent  that  their  record  must  be  given 
briefly:  the  first  of  whom  is  Joseph  W.  Southall,  of 
Amelia,  who  subsequently  attended  William  and  Mary 
College,  became  a  practitioner  of  medicine  and  a  member 
of  the  Senate  of  Virginia,  and  is  now  serving  his  third 
term  as  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  in 
which  position  his  intelligent  and  indefatigable  labors 
have  been  of  much  value  in  enlarging  and  improving  the 
public  schools  of  the  State  and  in  stimulating  to  higher 
ideals  of  education.  The  second  is  Charles  H.  Winston, 
of  Chesterfield  (class  of  1854),  Assistant  Professor  in 
Ancient  Languages  at  Hampden-Sidney,  Professor  of 
Ancient  Languages  in  Transylvania  University,  Ky., 
President  of  Richmond  Female  Institute,  Professor  of 
Physics'  and  Astronomy  in  Richmond  College  since  1873, 
a  constant  worker  in  summer  normal  schools  in  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina,  a  popular  lecturer  on  religious  and 
scientific  subjects,  a  cultured  gentleman,  a  man  of  the 
purest  Christian  character,  whose  influence  for  good  is 
widespread  and  effective.  The  third  is  Walter  Blair, 
of  Richmond,  (class  1855),  who,  immediately  after  grad- 
uation, was  made  Assistant  Professor  of  Ancient  Lan- 
guages at  Hampden-Sidney,  and  after  two  years  Profes- 
sor of  Latin  and  German ;  subsequently  spent  three  years 
in  German  Universities,  served  in  the  Richmond  How- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  65 

itzers  during  the  war  from  i86l-'65,  after  which  he 
resumed  his  chair  which  he  filled  with  marked  ability  till 
1896,  when  he  resigned  on  account  of  failing  eyesight; 
a  thorough  scholar,  a  conscientious  and  faithful  teacher, 
a  noble  gentleman,  whose  influence  in  behalf  of  refined 
culture  will  be  felt  for  years  to  come.  Many  of  the 
men,  trained  under  his  hand,  now  fill  educational  posi- 
tions' in  leading  Colleges  and  Universities  in  Virginia  and 
the  South,  and  carry  on  the  work  so  nobly  done  by  him. 

Conclusion. 

It  is  regretted  that  these  sketches  are  necessarily  so 
fragmentary  and  incomplete,  not  for  want  of  material 
but  because  of  restriction  in  space.  It  is  even  more 
regretted  that  the  names  of  many  richly  entitled  to  men- 
tion have  to  be  omitted.  It  is  believed,  however,  that 
enough  has'  been  said  to  illustrate  the  position  of  Hamp- 
den-Sidney  as  an  "educational  force"  of  great  value  to 
Virginia  and  the  South  and  to  show  that  from  the  first 
day  it  opened  its  doors  down  to  and  through  the  period 
covered  by  the  war  between  the  States,  has  done  much 
for  the  church  and  country.  It  may  also  be  remarked 
that  if  the  scope  of  our  inquiry  permitted  a  statement 
in  regard  to  its  work  to  the  present  time,  it  could  easily 
be  shown  that  during  the  past  forty  years  its  influence  has 
not  been  less  potent.  The  old  College,  sitting  on  the  hills 
of  Prince  Edward,  in  the  same  position  and  under  the 
same  charter  that  it  has  worked  from  the  beginning, 
has  at  present  as  in  the  past,  high  ideals  of  scholarship 
and  character  and  endeavors  to  send  out  into  the  world 
men  well  prepared  for  its  duties'  and  who  with  masterful 
energy,  address  themselves  to  their  performance. 


DOES  COLLEGE  EDUCATION  PAY? 

THIS  question  has  been  discussed  of  late  with  much 
vigor.  The  opinions  of  leading  men  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  and  in  various  walks  of  life  have 
been  gathered,  some  of  which  have  obtained  currency 
through  the  daily  and  weekly  press,  while  others  have 
been  embodied  in  special  treatises. 

The  trend  of  thought  seems  vastly  in  favor  of  the 
affirmative,  the  facts  and  figures  going  to  show  that  edu- 
cated talent,  while  in  the  minority,  is  predominant  and 
increasingly  in  the  ascendant  in  all  high  places  of  trust 
and  influence.  A  recognized  authority,  from  data  deemed 
ample  and  reliable,  estimated  that  one  of  every  forty 
college-bred  men  has  attained  distinguished  usefulness, 
whereas  only  one  in  ten  thousand  of  those  who  have  not 
enjoyed  this  advantage  has  risen  to  a  like  position,  the 
proportion  in  favor  of  "college  education"  being  as 
250  to  I. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  few  gentlemen  (notably  two) 
of  national  reputation,  great  wealth,  and,  in  certain  direc- 
tions, of  large  beneficence,  and  some  others  following 
in  their  wake,  have  aligned  themselves  on  the  negative 
and  declare  that  "education  is  overdone;"  that  "the  aver- 
age youth  ought  to  go  to  work  at  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
years  of  age,"  and  that  "he  will  be  much  more  likely 
to  achieve  success  and  make  the  most  of  life"  by  thus 
early  taking  up  some  special  line  than  by  wasting  his 
time  in  intellectual  improvement  and  thus  unfitting  him- 
self for  the  stern  realities  and  arduous  labors  to  be  en- 
countered in  the  future. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  67 

What  Is  Proposed. 

In  what  follows,  it  is  proposed  to  look  at  this  ques- 
tion from  a  practical  standpoint,  which,  so  far  as  is 
known  to  the  writer,  has  not  heretofore  been  duly 
occupied,  by  taking  the  facts  as  set  forth  in  the  life  of 
a  single  college  during  a  brief  period  of  time  as  an  ex- 
ample of  what  has  been  done  by  this  college  throughout 
its  history,  and  of  what  has  probably  been  paralleled  and 
possibly  exceeded  by  other  similar  institutions  in  Vir- 
ginia and  throughout  the  country.  The  college  selected 
is  Hampden-Sidney,  chartered  in  1783,  with  a  continuous 
history  from  that  time,  and  the  period  is  the  decade  from 
1883  to  1893.  The  reasons  for  these  selections  is  that 
the  writer  has  entire  familiarity  with  the  institution  and 
period  chosen,  and  can  certify  to  the"  substantial  accuracy 
and  correctness  of  the  facts  presented. 

Facts. 

An  accurate  count  shows  that  during  the  period  above 
named — ^the  sessions  of  1884-1893 — one  hundred  and 
forty-one  A.  B.  graduates  went  out  from  Hampden- 
Sidney  College. 

As  preliminary  to  the  main  inquiry  and  vitally  con- 
nected therewith,  it  is  a  matter  of  interest  to  know  where 
these  young  men  came  from ;  what  was  the  profession  or 
vocation  of  their  parents;  what  prospect  they  had  of 
making  their  way  in  the  world  without  an  education. 

Their  Nativity. — Ninety-six  were  Virginians ;  twenty- 
five  West  Virginians ;  six  Texans ;  four  Kentuckians,  and 
the  remaining  ten  from  six  Southern  States. 

Employment  of  Parents. — Of  the  fathers  of  these 
youths,  fifty-seven  were  farmers;  thirty-seven  ministers 


68  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

of  the  gospel ;  twenty-eight,  business  men ;  eight,  lawyers ; 
seven,  physicians ;  three,  mechanics,  and  one  a  teacher. 

Financial  Status  of  the  Families. — Of  the  whole  num- 
ber, it  is  not  believed  that  more  than  one-fifth  possessed 
any  estate  beyond  what  was  necessary,  with  wise  econ- 
omy, for  the  household  maintenance,  and  of  those  who 
were  better  off,  not  many  were  in  affluent  circumstances'. 
While  these  young  men  were  all,  or  nearly  all,  sons  of 
people  of  the  highest  respectability,  they  were  mostly 
so  circumstanced  in  childhood  and  at  college  as  to  en- 
force carefulness  in  expenditure  and,  in  some  cases,  much 
self-denial.  Few  could  expect  to  enter  life  with  any- 
thing to  depend  on  except  their  character  and  education 
and  their  own  efforts.  Some  supported  themselves  in 
whole  or  in  part  by  money  earned  through  their  own 
labor  before  entering  college,  and  during  the  vacations 
of  their  college  course.  Others  were  partly  on  borrowed 
money,  which  they  have  repaid.  A  few,  after  leaving 
college,  have  aided  in  the  education  of  younger  brothers 
and  sisters,  and  so  have  been  later  in  entering  their  life- 
work  than  otherwise  would  have  been  the  case. 

Present  Status  of  these  Young  Men. — What  has  be- 
come of  these  one  hundred  and  forty-one  young  men, 
some  of  whom  left  college  as  far  back  as'  1884,  and  some 
as  late  as  1893?  This  is  an  interesting  question,  and  its 
answer  is  the  crucial  test  by  which  our  main  inquiry  is 
to  be  decided.  The  facts  are  worthy  of  close  attention 
and  ought  to  be  carefully  considered.    Here  they  are : 

Of  the  whole  number,  thirty-nine  selected  the  Gospel 
ministry  as  their  profession,  six  of  whom  became  for- 
eign missionaries,  one  died  before  finishing  his  prepara- 
tory course,  and  one  is  reported  to  have  changed  his 
profession.     Thirty-three  chose  education  as  their  life 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  69 

work,  fourteen  of  whom  became  professors  in  universi- 
ties and  colleges  of  the  South,  six  have  died,  one  is  in 
infirm  health,  and  one  is  engaged  in  post-graduate  uni- 
versity study.  Thirty  elected  the  law  as  their  vocation, 
all  of  whom  except  three  are  successfully,  and  most  of 
them  to  an  unusual  degree  of  success,  engaged  in  their 
work ;  two  are  now  pursuing  professional  study,  and  one 
is  reported  to  have  abandoned  his  profession.  Twenty- 
one  entered  business,  three  of  whom  are  editors,  two 
cashiers  of  national  banks,  two  are  expert  chemists,  and 
one  has  died.*  Fourteen  selected  the  medical  profession, 
one  of  whom  is  in  infirm  health,  and  one,  after  teaching 
for  years',  is  engaged  in  professional  study.  Four  are 
farmers,  diligently  and  successfully  at  work. 

Summing  Up. 

From  this  statement  it  appears  that  of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  graduates  of  the  afore  mentioned 
decade  now  alive  and  in  health,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  hold  honorable  and  influential  positions  in  society, 
command  the  respect  of  their  fellow  men,  and  are  either 
at,  or  making  their  way  to,  the  front ;  four,  after  years' 
of  self-denying  eflfort,  hope  soon  to  engage  in  their 
chosen  work,  and  only  two  have  become  discouraged  and 
abandoned  the  purpose  of  their  life.  They  are  found 
in  seventeen  states  of  the  Union,  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
and  in  three  foreign  countries,  standing  in  their  lot  and 
doing  their  work  well. 

Let  these  facts  answer  the  question  with  zvhich  we 
began:    Does  college  education  pay? 

*  Of  the  eight  who  have  died,  four  deaths  were  from  typhoid 
fever,  three  from  piihnonary  consumption  and  of  one  the  cause 
is  unknown.    None  were  from  diseases  contracted  at  college. 


70  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Non-Graduates. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  What  has  become  of  the  non- 
graduate  students  who  were  at  Hampden-Sidney  during 
the  ten  years  under  consideration,  and  who  after  one, 
two  or  more  sessions,  for  one  cause  or  another,  left  col- 
lege without  diplomas? 

To  this  inquiry  the  ready  response  is  given  that  many, 
perhaps  a  large  majority  of  them,  are  filling  places  of 
trust  and  responsibility,  and  have  earned  the  confidence 
of  their  fellow  men,  and  that  among  them  the  college 
has  some  of  its  most  honored  alumni  and  warmest  friends 
and  supporters,  who  acknowledge  the  debt  they  owe 
their  alma  mater  for  the  training  and  impulse  they 
received  at  her  hands.  Of  a  number,  however,  no  in- 
formation is'  attainable,  and  consequently  no  such  safe 
induction  in  regard  to  them  is  possible  as  in  the  case  of 
graduates. 

It  must  also  be  understood  that  "college  education" 
means  a  certain  prescribed  course  of  useful  knowledge 
mastered,  and  a  definite  amount  of  intellectual  and  moral 
training  achieved,  and  that  it  is  by  those  who  have  gone 
through  the  curriculum  and  come  out  victors  at  the  end, 
the  character  and  worth  of  any  system  of  education  are 
to  be  judged.  Every  worthy  college  asks  to  be  tested  by 
this  standard.  If  its  graduates  obtain  competent  knowl- 
edge, thorough  training  and  healthful  impulse,  and  are 
fitted  to  fill  well  important  positions  in  the  world,  it 
shows  by  its  fruits  that  it  is  doing  good  work,  and  that 
youths  who  find  it  possible  will  act  wisely  in  obtaining 
its  aid  in  developing  and  fitting  them  for  completed  man- 
hood. College  training  helps  men  "to  make  the  most  of 
themselves" ;  to  enjoy  life  on  a  higher  plane ;  to  do  more 


¥ 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  71 

for  their  fellows ;  to  serve  God  more  fully  and  truthfully. 
It  places  before  them  ideals  seldom  presented  elsewhere, 
and  excites  aspiration  after  better  things,  not  so  likely  to 
be  awakened  amid  other  surroundings. 

The  prime  factor  in  inspiring  and  moulding  manly 
character  is  the  Christian  family.  Next,  and  subsidiary 
in  potent  inAuence,  is  the  Christian  college.  No  young 
man,  who  is  able  to  secure  it,  can  afford  to  do  without 
"college  education."  In  the  highest  sense  of  the  word, 
It  pays ! 

Richard  McIlwaine. 
Hampden-Sidney,  Va. 


LEWIS    LITTLEPAGE    HOLLADAY, 
A.  M.,  LL.  D. 

THE  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  February  23, 
1832,   at   Bellefonte,   Spottsylvania   county   Va., 
the  ancestral  estate  of  his  forefathers  since  1702,  when  it 
was'  patented  by  the  British  Crown  to  John  Holladay, 
the  progenitor  of  the  family  in  Virginia.     He  sprang 
from  an  honorable  and  sturdy  race  of  people,  several  of 
whom  were  distinguished  in  church. and  state.     In  his 
early  youth,  his  father,  Lewis  Littlepage  Holladay,  M.D., 
purchased  an  estate  in  the  county  of  Orange,  where  he 
practiced  his  profession  and  reared  his  family  and  where 
most  of  his  children  settled  in  life.     It  was  from  this 
home  that  young  Holladay,  a  modest  youth  of  17  years 
of  age,  having  been  nurtured  in  piety  and  received  such 
educational  advantages  as  his  neighborhood  afforded,  in 
the  month  of  August,  1849,  wended  his  way  by  private 
conveyance  over  the  country  roads  leading  to  Hampden- 
Sidney  College,  never  dreaming  that  his  whole  life  with 
the  exception  of  one  year  was  to  be  spent  here  or  that 
he  was  to  become  so  important  a  figure  in  the  history  of 
the  Institution  whose  instruction  he  was  seeking.    When 
he  entered  college  he  was  already  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  having  become  so  at  his  home  under  the 
ministry  of  the  late  Rev.  Daniel  B.  Bwing,  D.  D.,  for 
whom  he  always  cherished  a  very  affectionate  regard, 
and  it  may  be  well  to  remark  here  that  throughout  his 
college  course  and  in  an  intimate  personal  acquaintance 
with  him  during  the  remainder  of  his  life  extending  over 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  73 

more  than  forty-one  years,  I  never  knew  him  to  say  a 
word  or  to  do  an  act  unworthy  of  a  Christian.  This 
testimony  is  borne  by  one,  who  during  his  student  Hfe 
at  Hampden-Sidney,  was'  far  from  being  a  Christian  but 
who  knew  well  what  to  expect  of  one  and  was  ever 
keenly  on  the  watch  for  inconsistencies  and  blemishes 
in  those  professing  to  be  such.  Holladay's  purity  of 
speech  and  behavior  was  ever  untarnished;  his  truthful- 
ness in  word  and  deed  was  transparent ;  his'  rectitude  of 
■character  and  life  was  never  questioned. 

On  entering  college  he  was  found  prepared  in  every- 
thing, except  Greek,  for  the  Freshman  class.  On  that 
study  he  had  to  go  the  Preparatory  School,  then  taught 
by  a  tutor  entirely  separate  from  the  college  classes,  in 
the  upper  story  of  the  Steward's  Hall,  and  so  rapid  was 
his'  progress  that  when  the  ante-Christmas  examinations 
came  on  he  stood  with  the  regular  Freshmen  and  took  a 
leading  place  in  his  class.  It  was  just  after  this  time,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  second  term  on  January  3,  1850,  that 
I  first  made  his  acquaintance,  became  his  classmate  and 
soon  formed  an  intimacy  and  friendship  with  him  which 
strengthened  with  passing  years'  and  only  ended  with  his 
lamented  death  on  July  23,  1891.  When  I  first  met  him 
he  was  a  plain-looking  country  boy,  dressed  in  home- 
spun, as  most  of  the  students  were  at  that  day,  among 
whom  were  our  present  honored  Governor*  ;  Rev.  John  B. 
Shearer,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  and  other  men  who  have  since 
reached  distinguished  eminence  and  usefulness.  There 
was'  nothing  about  him  to  foretell  the  man  of  mark,  ex- 
cept a  bright  twinkle  in  his  eye ;  a  quick  responsive  move- 
ment of  his  features  and  a  strong  cordial  grasp  of  the 
hand.  These  characteristics  and  the  qualities  of  intellect 
and  heart  back  of  them  soon  won  for  him  the  esteem  and 

*P.  W.  McKinney. 


74  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

affection  of  every  man  in  college  and,  while  in  no  sense 
was  he  ever  a  college  hero,  there  was  no  one  on  the  roll 
who  was  more  universally  respected  and  loved.  Not 
only  the  good  fellows  but  the  bad  fellows  (of  whom  we 
unfortunately  had  a  superabundance)  ;  not  only  the 
Freshmen  but  the  Sophomores,  Juniors  and  Seniors ;  not 
only  the  bright  men  and  hard  workers  but  the  dull  fel- 
lows and  idlers;  not  only  his  brethren  of  the  Philan- 
thropic Society  but  the  Unions,  all  liked  and  honored 
Holladay.  He  was  recognized  as  easily  the  first  man 
in  his  class  in  point  of  scholarship  and  was  never  known 
to  fail  in  a  recitation  or  other  college  duty  or  to  be  guilty 
of  a  breach  of  college  decorum.  He  was  as  popular  with 
the  faculty  as  with  the  students,  and  the  faculty  con- 
sisted of  very  able  men.  They  were  Lewis  W.  Green. 
D.  D.,  President  and  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy; 
Charles  Martin,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin ; 
Charles  S.  Venable,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Mathematics', 
and  Joseph  R.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Phy- 
sical Science.  Dr.  Green  was  a  genius;  an  orator  who 
moved  his  audiences  at  times  with  thunderous  eloquence ; 
a  most  inspiring  teacher  and  a  high  man  every  way.  Dr. 
Martin  was  a  broad  and  accurate  scholar,  perhaps  the 
fullest  man  on  "The  Hill"  at  that  day,  deeply  interested 
in  the  students,  possibly  a  little  inclined  to  watch  them 
too  closely,  but  earnestly  engaged  to  save  them  from 
trouble  and  to  make  them  good  men.  Dr.  Venable  was 
the  youngest  member  of  the  faculty  but  recognized  as  the 
equal  of  any  of  them,  strict  in  the  classroom,  a  superb 
teacher,  sympathetic  with  the  boys,  and  intuitively  under- 
standing how  to  govern  them,  showing  even  then  the  pos- 
session of  abilities  which  have  fitted  him  to  become  the 
Nestor  of  the   faculty  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  75 

Dr.  Wilson  was  then  a  cultured  young  preacher  and  an 
ardent  student  of  science.  He  made  his  mark  here  and 
impressed  himself  not  only  on  the  students  but  on  the 
people  of  the  neighborhood  and  surrounding  counties  by 
his  brilliant  sermons,  and  was  soon  called  to  Staunton, 
Va.,  then  to  Augusta,  Ga.,  then  to  Columbia  Theological 
Seminary  and  is  now  Professor  of  Theology  in  the 
Southwestern  Presbyterian  University  at  Clarksville, 
Tenn.  These  men  all  loved  and  admired  Holladay 
throughout  life  and  the  two  last  named,  who  survive 
him,  still  honor  and  cherish  his  memory. 

There  is  not  much  else  to  say  of  his  college  life.  It 
was  regular,  systematic  and  successful.  He  was  a  fine 
student,  was  fond  of  innocent  fun,  took  regular  exercise, 
observed  early  hours  and  got  plenty  of  sleep;  was  a 
cheerful  and  pleasant  companion  but  allowed  no  man 
on  any  pretense  to  interfere  with  his  appointed  time  for 
study ;  was  a  punctual  attendant  on  his  literary  society, 
an  ardent  Phip.  and  performed  every  duty  assigned  him 
but  never  ventured  on  his  feet  except  when  duty  com- 
pelled him.  And  herein  he  made,  perhaps',  the  largest 
mistake  of  his  college  life.  He  might  have  become  a 
ready  and  facile  speaker,  for  he  possessed  every  power 
essential  to  it,  except  that  afforded  only  by  practice.  He 
was  chock-full  of  humor;  had  a  ready  wit  which  was 
sharp  and  bright,  and  might  have  greatly  enlarged  his 
sphere  of  usefulness,  had  he  only  cultivated  the  art  of 
speaking.  As  it  was',  he  seldom  appeared  before  a  popu- 
lar audience  and  never  except  under  distress  and  had  no 
comfort  in  it  until  he  had  finished. 

He  graduated  in  the  class  of  1853  with  the  highest 
honors,  and  delivered  the  valedictory,  which  was  a 
modest  and  feeling  address  and  made  some  of  us  cry.    It 


76  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

was  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  a  tear  stand  in  his  eye,  but 
he  was  a  sympathetic,  loving  friend  and  this  parting  from 
those  he  loved  deeply  stirred  his  emotions.  There  had, 
from  the  Freshman  year  up,  been  from  fifty  to  sixty 
men  in  the  class  but  they  had  been  gradually  sifted  out 
until  after  the  final  examination  there  remained  only 
nine,  as  follows:  Lindsay  H.  Blanton,  now  the  distin- 
guished Chancellor  of  Central  University,  Ky. ;  John  B. 
Burwell,  major  in  the  Confederate  Army  and  for  many 
years  President  of  Peace  Institute,  Raleigh,  N.  C. ; 
Charles  W.  Crawley,  engaged  successfully  most  of  his 
life  as  a  classical  teacher  in  which  he  obtained  eminence 
— as  good  and  true  a  man  as  ever  lived.  He  died  in 
Cumberland  county  about  two  years  ago ;  John  H.  Davis, 
the  beloved  pastor  of  Black  Walnut  Church,  Halifax 
county,  a  fine  preacher  and  a  noble  man;  Samuel  H. 
Davis,  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  class,  who  passed 
through  Union  Theological  Seminary  and  became  the 
pastor  of  the  Church  in  Amelia  county,  where  he  died 
in  1858,  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him ;  Edward  M. 
Henry,  for  many  years  a  merchant  in  Norfolk,  Va.,  and 
for  a  time  mayor  of  the  city;  Lewis  L.  Holladay,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Matthew  L.  Lacy,  at^  one  time 
pastor  in  Lewisburg,  W.  Va.,  now  in  Monroe  county, 
W.  Va.,  the  leading  man  in  his  Presbytery  and  one  of  the 
foremost  in  the  Synod  of  Virginia ;  Richward  Mcllwaine, 
the  writer  of  this  sketch.  Every  man  of  us,  except  one, 
became  a  preacher  or  teacher.  There  was  not  an  inferior 
fellow  among  them.  Without  exception  they  have  led 
honorable  and  useful  lives.  It  is  a  distinction  to  belong  to 
such  a  class'  and  to  have  been  intimately  associated  with 
such  men. 

Immediately  on  graduation,  Holladay  was  elected  by 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  77 

the  Board  of  Trustees  tutor  of  the  Preparatory  School. 
This  office  was  far  different  from  that  of  Fellow  now 
known  in  college,  and  the  duties  were  very  dissimilar. 
The  tutor  was  a  schoolmaster  and  his  pupils  were  boys, 
mostly  young,  but  some  of  them  nearly  full  grown  and 
venturesome,  whom  he  had  not  only  to  teach,  but  to  gov- 
ern and  control,  and  sometimes  to  flog.  My  distinguished 
friend.  Major  R.  M.  Venable,  leading  Professor  of  Law 
in  the  University  of  Maryland,  at  Baltimore,  who  was  a 
scholar  at  the  time,  testifies  to  the  faithful  and  successful 
performance  by  the  tutor  of  all  his  duties  including  the 
use  of  the  rod.  Dr.  Richard  Busby,  head-master  of  West- 
minster School  in  the  boyhood  of  the  famous  John  Locke, 
boasted  before  he  died,  that  sixteen  of  the  bishops  who 
then  occupied  the  bench  had  been  birched  with  his  "little 
rod,"  and  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  men 
were  helped  during  that  year  by  the  discipline  adminis- 
tered by  the  young  tutor.  He  was  muscular  and  strong 
and  unacquainted  with  the  emotion  of  fear,  and  when  one 
day  (according  to  Major  Venable's  account)  a  conspiracy 
among  four  or  five  of  the  older  boys  was  formed  to  bring 
his  authority  into  contempt,  all  having  agreed  to  stand 
by  the  aggressor,  no  sooner  had  the  oflFence,  which  was  of 
a  serious  character,  been  given,  than  he  was  seized  and 
dealt  with  so  summarily  that  his  compatriots  stood  back 
and  let  him  bear  the  brunt  of  the  tutor's  indignation. 
There  was  order  and  decorum  in  that  school  from  that 
day  on,  and  it  turned  out  some  distinguished  men. 

In  the  fall  of  1854,  Holladay  entered  the  University 
of  Virginia.  His  life  there  was  uneventful  but  he  came 
out  at  the  close  of  the  session  with  diplomas  on  Latin, 
Greek  and  Mathematics,  besides  attending  the  class  on 
Physics  but  not  offering  for  graduation.    At  the  end  of 


78  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

this  session  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Physical  Science 
in  Hampden-Sidney  College,  which  position  he  continued 
to  hold  throughout  life.  At  times  during  his  incumbency, 
he  taught  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  the  classes  of 
Latin,  Greek,  Mathematics  and  Moral  Philosophy  and 
for  several  sessions  during  the  absence  or  sickness  of 
the  President  performed  the  administrative  duties  of  the 
College — all  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  trustees,  the 
faculty  and  the  students.  For  many  years  he  was  also 
clerk  of  the  faculty  and  curator  of  the  college.  In  the 
year  1856,  soon  after  he  entered  on  his  professorial 
duties.  Prof.  Holladay  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Nannie  Morton,  of  Buffaloe,  Prince  Edward  county,  who 
continued  throughout  his  life  his  beloved  and  trusted 
wife,  and  who,  while  now  mourning  and  deploring  his 
loss,  is  comforted  by  the  thought  that  no  woman  ever 
had  a  truer  or  purer  man  for  husband. 

In  estimating  Prof.  HoUaday's  rank  as  a  professor,  it 
goes  without  the  saying  that  he  was  thoroughly  qualified, 
faithful  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  and  a  good 
teacher.  The  late  President  Atkinson,  who  was  his  col- 
league for  twenty-five  years,  told  me  that  he  had  attended 
his  classes  for  a  session  and  that  he  regarded  him  a  very 
fine  lecturer,  and  one  of  the  best  instructors  he  ever 
knew.  Perhaps  the  marked  excellence  of  his  teaching, 
apart  from  and  beyond  the  regular  and  necessary  drill 
of  the  classroom,  consisted  in  its  power  to  reach  and 
stimulate  the  great  majority  of  his  students.  Very  few 
young  men  passed  under  his  hand,  however  inattentive 
they  might  be  in  other  departments,  who  were  not  waked 
up  and  made  to  think.  It  was  as  an  educator  rather  than 
a  speciaHst  that  he  was  peculiarly  distinguished,  and  he 
thus  impressed  many  minds,  aroused  them  to  a  con- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  79 

sciousness  of  their  powers  and  put  them  in  the  way  of 
using  their  abilities. 

As  a  member  of  the  faculty  and  officer  of  the  college, 
Prof.  Holladay  obtained  deserved  eminence.  Possibly, 
from  temperament  as  well  as  a  matter  of  judgment,  a 
little  too  disinclined  to  note  offences  until  they  had  be- 
come flagrant;  possibly,  too,  when  they  were  no  longer 
concealed  but  must  be  dealt  with  disposed  to  be  some- 
what too  lenient,  his  error,  if  he  erred  at  all,  was  on 
the  right  side,  and  it  may  have  resulted  in  aiding  and 
saving  more  than  it  injured.  However  this  was,  he  was 
a  tower  of  strength  in  the  faculty,  every  member  of 
which  loved  and  trusted  him,  and  he  was  greatly  honored 
and  respected  by  the  students'.  As  a  Christian,  Prof. 
Holladay  was  modest  and  unassuming  but  earnest  and 
practical.  As  an  elder  in  college  church,  his  services 
were  constant  and  cheerful.  Perhaps  no  man  in  the  com- 
munity at  the  time  of  his  death  had  so  strong  a  hold  on 
all  classes  and  conditions'  of  people  in  and  out  of  the 
church.  He  was  kind  to  the  poor;  sympathetic  with 
those  in  distress ;  a  welcome  visitor  to  the  sick ;  a  coun- 
cellor  to  the  troubled.  He  was  preeminently  a  man  of 
peace.  He  loved  it;  "studied  the  things  that  made  for" 
it  and  communicated  it  to  many  souls.  He  was  a  very 
generous  man.  His  was  not  a  religion  that  consisted  in 
"good  wordb',  that  butter  no  parsnips,"  but  he  was  ever 
ready  to  help  in  every  good  work  and  in  proportion  to  his 
means  was  a  bountiful  giver.  As  a  citizen  he  was  in 
thorough  accord  with  his  neighbors  and  friends  on  all 
questions  of  policy;  was  public  spirited  and  ever  ready 
to  bear  his  portion  of  every  burden. 

In  the  year  1885,  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws  from  Central  University,  Ky. ;  an  honor  espe- 


8o  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

cially  pleasing  to  him  as  it  was  conferred  by  an  institu- 
tion presided  over  by  his  old  friend  and  classmate,  Rev. 
Dr.  L.  H.  Blanton,  and  which  several  years  before  had 
honored  him  by  an  invitation  to  one  of  its  professorial 
chairs. 

His  death  was  both  sudden  and  unexpected.  One 
afternoon  at  five  o'clock  I  saw  him  apparently  in  health 
and  engaged  in  pleasant  friendly  conversation.  The  next 
morning  at  the  same  hour  I  was  summoned  to  his  resi- 
dence, but  he  was  not  there.  The  body  was  laid  out  for 
burial.  The  spirit  had  departed  to  the  better  world. 
Using  the  language  in  a  Christian  sense,  the  words  em- 
ployed by  Xenophon  to  describe  Socrates  may  well  be 
applied  to  this  incomparable  man:  "He  was  so  pious, 
that  he  did  nothing  without  the  advice  of  the  gods;  so 
just,  that  he  never  injured  anyone  even  in  the  least;  so 
completely  master  of  himself,  that  he  never  chose  the 
agreeable  instead  of  the  good ;  so  discerning  that  he  never 
failed  to  distinguish  the  better  from  the  worse.  He  was 
just  the  best  and  happiest  man  possible." 


SOME  ESSENTIALS  IN  THE   IMPROVEMENT 
OF    OUR    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

THE  importance  of  our  public  schools  to  society  and 
the  State  cannot  be  over  estimated.  Conditions  in 
Virginia  at  present  are  vastly  different  from  what  they 
were  formerly  and  the  only  hope  of  the  wide  diffusion  of 
good  educational  advantages  lies  in  the  public  schools. 
Classical  academies  and  institutes,  under  private  owner- 
ship or  maintained  by  associated  effort,  doubtless  have 
their  place  to  fill  and  many  of  them  will  continue  to  exist 
as  indispensable  factors  in  promoting  higher  education, 
but  not  one  in  a  thousand  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  Virginia 
has  the  means  to  attend  them.  Church  schools,  too,  under 
sectarian  impulse,  may  be  maintained  here  and  there 
more  or  less  regularly,  but  really  there  is  no  need  of 
them  and  no  place  for  them  in  a  country  like  ours,  where 
thought  is  free  as  the  air  and  every  one  is'  at  liberty  to 
embrace  that  form  of  doctrine  which  commends  itself  as 
truth.  They  have  never  had  any  strong  hold  on  the 
people  of  Virginia  and  I  regard  the  present  reaction  in 
their  favor  as  the  result  of  well-meant  sectarian  zeal, 
wrongly  directed.  What  we  need  under  a  republican 
form  of  government  where  the  people  belong  to  many 
different  church  organizations,  is  a  point  of  unity  where 
they  can  come  together  and  bring  their  combined  ener- 
gies to  bear  in  behalf  of  a  primary  and  secondary 
education,  good  for  all  and  open  to  all.  The  nearest 
approach  to  this'  yet  discovered  and  that  which  most  fully 


82  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

meets  the  demands  of  the  case,  is  found  in  the  public 
school  system,  properly  developed  and  administered.  It 
is  by  no  means  perfect.  What  we  are  aiming  at  is  its 
improvement. 

But  just  here,  at  the  very  beginning,  we  find  our- 
selves encompassed  by  serious"  embarrassments.  A  capi- 
tal difficulty  confronts  us  by  reason  of  our  heterogeneous 
and  scattered  population.  If  the  people  of  Virginia  were 
wholly  white  or  wholly  colored,  the  problem  would  be 
simplified,  but  about  one-third  of  the  population  of  the 
state  and  more  than  one-half  of  the  population  of  Prince 
Edward  and  its'  sister  counties  is  composed  of  negroes, 
social  contact  with  whom  in  the  schools  is  impracticable 
and  impossible.  No  one,  not  living  under  these  condi- 
tions, can  form  an  adequate  idea  of  the  difficulty  and 
perplexity  caused  by  them.  But,  my  friends,  the  fathers 
and  founders  of  the  Old  Dominion,  among  whom  were 
the  first  settlers  of  Prince  Edward  and  its  sister  counties, 
overcame  difficulties  and  put  aside  perplexities  in  laying 
broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  this  commonwealth, 
and  so  you,  their  children,  under  changed  conditions  must 
meet  your  responsibilities  and  bear  your  burdens.  God 
has  been  with  us  in  the  past  and  will  doubtless  continue 
with  us  in  the  future.  All  we  need  to  insure  success  is  an 
intelligent  appreciation  of  the  situation  and  a  determined 
and  persistent  discharge  of  the  duties  growing  out  of  it. 

In  the  development  of  my  subject,  I  ask  your  assent 
to  the  following  propositions:  ist,  We  need  better 
schools  and  school  houses.  2nd,  In  order  to  secure  these 
we  must  have  competent  and  well  paid  teachers;  longer 
school  terms,  fewer  school  houses  and  submit  to  local 
taxation  as  a  supplement  to  the  fund  derived  from  the 
State.      3rd,    In    order   to    this,    we    must    have    more 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  83 

sympathetic  interest  in  the  schools  by  the  people,  more 
faithful  and  enlightened  superintendents  of  schools  and 
more  intelligent  and  patriotic  school  trustees. 

I  need  dwell  but  a  little  while  on  my  first  proposition, 
for  it  is  generally  admitted  that  schools  outside  of  cities 
and  towns  are  not  infrequently  poor,  the  teachers  often 
incompetent,  sometimes  immoral ;  and  the  school  houses 
ugly,  uncomfortable,  and  badly  furnished,  with  excep- 
aons  here  and  there,  but  the  exceptions'  so  rare  in  rural 
communities  as  rather  to  emphasize  than  to  disprove  the 
rule. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  look  at  this"  state  of  facts.  We 
must  be  careful,  however,  not  to  exaggerate  the  evils, 
but  only  to  look  them  squarely  in  the  face. 

It  is  a  depressing  fact  that  many  of  our  schools 
change  teachers  every  year,  or  at  least,  every  year  or 
two.  There  is  no  permanency  about  them.  Teachers 
and  children  come  together  as  strangers  and  by  the  time 
they  get  acquainted,  they  part.  There  is  no  knowledge 
of  the  pupil,  of  his  capacity,  proclivities',  and  character- 
istics, on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  and  no  affection  and 
kind  regard  for  the  teacher  by  the  pupil.  There  is  no 
permanent  interest  in  one  another  and  no  steady  progress 
in  the  school.  Things  are  at  a  dead  level.  A  minimum 
of  instruction  is  given  and  a  minimum  of  progress  made. 

The  case  is,  however,  in  many  instances,  worse  than 
this,  for  the  testimony  is  overwhelming  that  not  a  few 
of  our  public  schools  are  taught  by  men  and  women  of 
little  education,  whose  example  and  influence  are  far 
from  inspiring  and  whose  instruction  is  of  little  worth. 
Others  testify  that  in  some  cases'  teachers  are  immoral. 
I  have  been  told  of  a  white  teacher,  who  was  known  in 
his  neighborhood  to  be  utterly  untrustworthy,  and  two 


84  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

gentlemen  in  this  county  have  asserted  in  my  presence 
that  a  certain  colored  school  taught  by  a  certain  colored 
teacher  is  a  hot  bed  of  dissension  and  the  breeding  place 
of  all  sorts  of  foolish  and  vain  expectations,  while  the 
children  are  taught  little  or  nothing  of  value,  but  become 
adepts  in  vicious  practices. 

As  to  school  houses,  it  is  very  sure  that  comparatively 
few  of  them  are  neat  and  comfortable  and  elevating  in 
structure  or  surroundings.  They  are  generally  little 
wooden  affairs  without  architectural  beauty  or  propor- 
tion and  devoid  of  paint  or  other  adornment,  stuck  away 
in  the  edge  of  a  piece  of  wood,  or  worse,  of  an  unshaded 
field,  the  faithful  picture  of  forlorn  hopelessness  and  of 
the  entire  absence  of  aspiration.  The  inside  of  these 
seats  of  learning,  where  the  future  sovereigns  of  Virginia 
are  being  prepared  for  the  high  duties  of  citizenship,  are 
as  uninviting  as  the  aspect  from  without,  with  not  a 
thing  that  is  pleasing  to  the  eye  and  not  much  convenient 
to  the  hand  or  stimulating  to  the  mind.  It  is  a  dreary 
waste  within  as  without. 

2nd,  May  I  now  take  it  for  granted  that  you  agree 
with  me  in  thinking  that  "we  need  better  schools  and 
school  houses?"  If  so,  then  the  question  arises,  how  are 
we  to  get  them  ?  In  reply  to  this  inquiry,  I  beg  to  restate 
by  second  proposition,  to  wit,  "we  must  have  competent 
and  well  paid  teachers,  longer  school  terms,  fewer  school 
houses  and  must  submit  to  local  taxation  to  supplement 
what  is  derived  from  the  State  fund." 

A  competent  teacher  is  a  well  educated  teacher,  a 
thoroughly  trained  teacher,  a  teacher  truly  interested  in, 
and  who  gives'  his  time  and  attention  to,  his  work;  a 
person,  whether  man  or  woman,  white  or  colored,  whose 
character  is  above  reproach  and  whose  conduct  is  beyond 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  85 

suspicion.  This  is  the  kind  of  teachers  we  endeavor  to 
get  in  our  institutions  of  higher  learning  and  it  is  the 
kind  we  ought  to  seek  for  our  public  schools.  No  parent 
ought  to  be  willing  to  entrust  his  child  to  the  care  of 
an  ignorant,  ill-mannered  or  immoral  guide.  The  school 
authorities  are  culpable  if,  without  proper  inquiry  or 
wilfully,  they  impose  such  a  teacher  on  confiding  parents. 
All  such  ought  to  be  weeded  out  of  the  profession. 
Better  close  your  school  than  have  your  children  injured 
by  the  defects  and  misdemeanors  of  such  creatures. 

But  if  you  want  good  teachers,  you  must  give  them 
reasonable  compensation  for  their  services.  Well  do  I 
remember  that  many  years  ago  I  was  told  by  a  venerable 
minister  of  the  gospel  of  the  pittance  he  received  as  his 
salary,  to  which  I  replied  in  astonishment,  "Why,  doctor, 
that  is  dreadfully  poor  pay,"  when  he  said,  "Poor  pay, 
poor  preach."  So  I  say,  ''Poor  pay,  poor  teach."  If  you 
want  a  good  teacher,  you  must  pay  him,  just  as  when 
you  want  a  good  lawyer,  or  doctor,  or  carpenter,  or 
blacksmith,  you  pay  him  the  value  of  his  service.  It  is 
ridiculous'  to  expect  educated  and  high-minded  men  and 
women,  except  in  rare  cases  in  which  they  submit  to  it 
in  the  interest  of  religion  and  as  a  means  of  doing  good, 
to  endure  extraordinary  privation  and  cut  themselves  off 
from  profitable  employment  in  order  to  educate  other 
people's  children.  It  is  ridiculous,  but  it  is  about  the  size 
of  the  public  expectation  that  for  the  pittance  of  $32  per 
month  for  male  teachers  and  $26  per  month  for  females 
in  schools  with  about  five  month's  terms,  these  competent 
individuals  shall  give  their  time  to  teach  the  young  idea 
how  to  shoot  and  guide  their  immature  feet  into  the 
paths  of  virtue  and  goodness.  It  is  a  vain  hope.  You 
already  have  as  good   and   in   many  cases  much  better 


86  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

teachers  than  your  money  pays  for,  and  if  you  wish  the 
teaching  and  the  schools  improved,  you  must  use  means, 
and  if  need  be  submit  to  privation,  to  obtain  competent 
teachers  and  useful  schools. 

As  subsidiary  to  this,  we  must  have  longer  school 
terms;  i.  e.,  more  of  the  time  of  the  teachers  must  be 
employed  than  four,  five  or  six  months  in  the  year.  I 
am  aware  that  in  pressing  this  point,  I  have  to  meet  an- 
other patent  and  potent  difficulty,  to  wit,  the  fact  that  in 
our  rural  communities,  many  parents  find  it  necessarv 
to  have  their  children  over  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age  as 
helps  on  the  farm  and  cannot  afford  their  absence  until 
the  crops  are  gathered  in  the  fall,  or  longer  than  the  time 
when  it  is  necessary  to  pitch  the  crops  in  the  spring.  This 
necessity  is  not  universal  but  in  some  parts  of  the  state 
it  is  general  and  it  constitutes  a  very  great  barrier  to 
perfecting  the  schools. 

In  some  of  the  counties  of  North  Carolina,  this  diffi- 
culty is  met  in  the  following  manner;  the  annual  school 
session  is  divided  into  two  terms  of  five  months  each, 
the  first  for  younger  children  up  to  ten  years  of  age, 
running  from  May  to  September  inclusive,  and  the  sec- 
ond for  older  children  over  ten  years  old,  running  from 
November  through  March,  thus  furnishing  a  ten  months' 
session  to  the  teacher  and  school  accommodations  in  the 
same  house  for  double  the  number  of  children  who  could 
otherwise  be  provided  for.  This  plan  is  set  forth  lucidly 
in  an  interesting  paper  read  before  the  Richmond  Meet- 
ing of  the  Southern  Educational  Association  by  Col.  S. 
F.  Venable  and  is  said  to  be  working  admirably  in  Bun- 
combe and  perhaps  other  counties  in  North  Carolina. 
Whether  it  is  practicable  or  not  in  Virginia  and  Prince 
Edward  is  a  question  for  school  trustees  in  conference 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  87 

■with  patrons  of  the  schools  to  determine.  Certainly 
something  must  be  done  to  employ  teachers  for  a  longer 
term,  if  good  schools  are  to  be  maintained.  For  employ- 
ment for  the  longer  term  of  itself  increases  the  pay  of  the 
teacher.  A  man  or  woman  whose  time  is  occupied  for 
ten  months  is  in  a  much  better  position  than  one  who  is 
employed  for  only  a  part  of  that  time. 

But  the  salary  at  present  given  to  most  country  teach- 
ers is  ridiculous.  It  is  less  than  many  laboring  men  re- 
ceive, less  than  reputable  mechanics,  or  workers  in  facto- 
ries or  successful  boot  blacks  earn,  and  we  ought  not  to 
be  content  to  allow  those  to  whom  are  assigned  such  im- 
portant and  elevated  duties,  from  a  social,  intellectual  or 
moral  standpoint,  to  do  this  important  work  at  starvation 
and  depressing  wages.  The  teacher  ought  to  be  well  paid 
and  the  school  houses  neat,  comfortable  and  well  fur- 
nished.   All  admit  the  justice  and  economy  of  this. 

The  improvement  in  teachers  implies  an  improvement 
in  the  school  houses,  their  furniture,  appliances  and  sur- 
roundings, but  this  advance  cannot  be  made  so  long  as 
such  an  unnecessary  multiplicity  of  schools  exist.  Ac- 
cording to  the  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  for  1 900-1 901,  there  were  only  five  out  of 
forty-two  white  schools  in  Prince  Edward  which  main- 
tained an  average  attendance  of  twenty  pupils",  while 
there  were  twenty-one — exactly  one-half — which  fell  be- 
low fifteen  pupils,  I  know  of  three  schools  in  this  county 
in  an  area  where  there  ought  to  be  but  one.  It  is  objected 
that  if  this  consolidation  is  accomplished  some  of  the 
scholars  will  have  to  walk  two  or  three  miles,  which,  to 
me,  seems  to  have  no  force  whatever.  Some  of  you,  and 
many  of  your  fathers  and  mothers,  and  grandfathers  and 
grandmothers  walked  three,  four  or  five  miles'  to  school. 


88  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

and  it  made  men  and  women  of  them,  and  the  children  of 
this  generation  are  no  better  than  their  forebears.  Many 
of  the  most  able,  influential  and  useful  men  of  former 
times  and  of  the  present  day  in  the  Commonwealth  of 
Virginia  had  this  experience,  and  it  is  a  necessary  inci- 
dent to  the  scattered  condition  of  our  population  that  it 
shall  continue  a  while  longer,  if  the  educational  advan- 
tages offered  our  children  are  not  to  continue  to  be  the 
merest  farce. 

As  I  said  a  moment  ago,  "we  must  have  well-paid 
teachers  and  neat,  comfortable  and  well-furnished  school 
houses."  How  is  this  most  desirable  end  to  be  attained? 
Something  else  is  necessary  besides  the  diminution  of 
school  houses,  and  I  insist  that  one  of  the  great  desiderata 
in  accomplishing  this  object  and  without  which  it  cannot 
probably  be  attained,  is  increased  taxation — local  taxa- 
tion in  addition  to  what  the  State  furnishes. 

According  to  advanced  sheets  of  the  Virginia  School 
Report  for  1 900-1 901,  the  total  State  fund  for  last  year 
amounted  to  $1,029,373.80,  which  was  all  in  hand  to  pay 
for  administration  and  all  other  charges,  together  with 
the  support  of  the  schools.  Let  us  suppose  that  the 
whole  fund  were  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  schools, 
then  there  would  have  been  but  $1.47  per  capita  for  the 
school  population  of  the  Commonwealth ;  $2.69  per  cap- 
ita for  the  pupils  enrolled ;  and  $4.57  per  capita  for  those 
in  daily  average  attendance.  This  shows  you  how  wretch- 
edly inadequate  the  State  fund  is  to  the  support  of  repu- 
table schools  and  how  necessary  it  is  that  it  be  supple- 
mented by  local  taxation. 

Governor  Montague,  the  honored  Chief  Magistrate 
of  Virginia,  has  said  sententiously  and  wisely,  "I  would 
rather  have  one  good  school  within  five  miles  of  my  house 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  89 

than  five  poor  schools  at  my  door,"  "Good  schools"  are 
what  we  need.    Are  you  wilHng  to  pay  for  them? 

In  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Virginia  under 
which  we  are  now  Hving,  there  are  found  two  provisions, 
not  heretofore  existing,  which  it  is  beheved  go  far  in 
aiding  in  the  solution  of  this  knotty  problem. 

The  first  of  these  is  found  in  section  173  in  the  Article 
on  Taxation  and  Finance,  and  is  as  follows : 

"The  General  Assembly  may  authorize  the  Board  of 
Supervisors  of  any  county  or  the  council  of  any  city  or 
town  to  levy  an  additional  capitation  tax  not  exceeding 
one  dollar  per  annum  on  every  such  resident  within  its 
limits,"  (t.  e.,  on  every  male  resident  not  less  than  twenty 
one  years  of  age,)  "which  shall  be  applied  in  aid  of  the 
public  schools  of  said  county,  city  or  town,  or  for  such 
other  county,  city  or  town  purpose  as  they  shall  deter- 
mine." 

The  object  of  this'  provision  is  two  fold —  (i)  to  get 
some  tax  from  every  male  citizen,  so  far  as  possible.  At 
present,  many  citizens  pay  no  tax  for  the  support  either 
of  the  schools  or  the  government;  (2)  in  counties,  cities 
and  towns  that  desire  it,  to  give  larger  support  to  the 
public  schools. 

The  second  provision  is  found  in  section  136  in  the 
Article  on  Education  and  Public  Instruction,  and  is  as 
follows :  "Each  county,  city,  town,  if  the  same  be  a  sepa- 
rate school  district,  and  school  district  is  authorized  to 
raise  additional  sums  by  a  tax  on  property,  not  to  exceed 
in  the  aggregate  five  mills  on  the  dollar  in  any  one  year, 
to  be  apportioned  and  expended  by  the  local  school  au- 
thorities of  said  counties,  cities,  towns  and  districts  in  es- 
tablishing and  maintaining  such  schools  as  in  their  judg- 
ment the  public  welfare  may  require." 


90  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

The  object  of  this  provision  is  entirely  different  from 
that  of  the  former,  to  wit,  to  clothe  the  people  in  the 
counties,  cities,  towns  and  school  districts  of  the  State 
with  authority  to  tax  themselves  for  the  maintenance  of 
graded  and  high  schools',  a  most  important  feature  which 
must  be  added  to  our  public  school  system,  in  order  to 
give  it  full  efficiency.  I  am  glad  to  see  that  the  county 
of  Charlotte  is  the  pioneer  in  laying  hold  of  this  privi- 
lege and  has  determined  to  levy  a  tax  for  the  full  amount 
allowed  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  within  her  bor- 
ders schools  of  a  higher  grade  than  have  existed  there 
heretofore.  Shall  not  Prince  Edward  come  next?  Will 
not  the  trustees  of  our  several  school  districts  and  the 
people  of  the  county  awake  to  the  importance  of  this  mat- 
ter and  give  our  young  people,  male  and  female,  the  op- 
portunity to  fit  themselves  for  higher  and  broader  and 
larger  usefulness  in  life? 

In  this  connection,  I  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
"Southern"  or  "Ogden  Educational"  Movement,  which 
has  aroused  much  interest,  north  and  south,  and  which, 
I  understand,  is  organized  and  intended  to  stimulate,  fos- 
ter and  assist  just  such  advances  in  education  as  I  am 
advocating.  But  let  it  be  noted  as  certain  that  nothing 
can  be  expected  from  this  source  until  we  express  a  will- 
ingness to  co-operate  and  to  do  for  ourselves  what  is  in 
our  power,  whereas  if  we  move  towards  the  goal,  they 
will  join  hands  with  us  in  the  establishment  and  mainte- 
nance of  a  first-rate  system  of  public  education.  Fortu- 
nately for  Prince  Edward,  it  has  strong  and  influential 
friends  among  those  most  intimately  connected  with  this 
movement.  First,  there  is  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  chairman 
of  the  Campaign  Committee  for  the  whole  South,  who 
knows  Prince  Edward  well  and  has  some  close  associa- 


ADDRESSES  AMD  PAPERS.  gt 

tions  here.  Then  there  are  Dr.  Charles  W.  Dabney,  di- 
rector of  the  Bureau  of  Information  and  Investigation, 
and  Professor  J.  D.  Eggleston,  secretary  and  editor,  both 
born  and  bred  in  Prince  Edward  and  graduates  of  its  old 
College,  Hampden-Sidney.  Then  there  are  Dr.  Robert 
Frazer,  for  some  years  resident  among  you  as  president 
of  the  State  Female  Normal  School,  and  Hon.  Henry  St. 
George  Tucker,  than  whom  there  is  no  more  broad- 
minded  gentleman  in  the  Commonwealth — field  agents 
for  Virginia.  In  view  of  these  facts  and  the  possibilities 
which  they  appear  to  open  up,  I  exhort  the  people  of 
Farmville  and  Prince  Edward  to  arouse  themselves  to 
embrace  this  opportunity,  to  put  your  shoulders  to  the 
wheel,  every  man  to  take  up  cheerfully  his  part  of  the 
burden  and  thus  place  the  old  county  far  in  advance  along 
educational  lines  of  what  it  has  ever  been  in  the  past. 

Third.  But  if  all  this  were  un  fait  accompli,  something 
else  is  necessary.  The  system  would  not  be  complete,  for 
there  would  be  no  assurance  for  the  future  that  through 
lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  people  or  by  reason  of 
maladministration  by  those  in  whose  hands  school  man- 
agement is  placed,  there  will  not  be  gradual  deterioration 
and  permanent  inefficiency  and  therefore  I  come  to  my 
third  and  last  proposition — to  wit :  "We  must  have  more 
sympathetic  interest  in  the  schools  by  the  people,  more 
faithful  and  enlightened  superintendents  of  schools  and 
more  intelligent  and  patriotic  school  trustees." 

I.  An  essential  element  in  the  prosperity  of  any  insti- 
tution of  learning  is  the  cordial  support  it  receives  from 
its  patrons  and  the  people  by  whom  it  is  surrounded. 
Without  this,  the  schools  of  whatever  grade  may  get 
along  in  a  hum-drum  kind  of  way  and  do  good  work,  its 
teachers  faithfully  but  drearily  performing  their  duties 


92  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

and  the  scholars  going  wearily  through  with  their  tasks', 
but  where  there  is  lack  of  inspiration,  approval  and  en- 
couragement from  without,  the  actors  are  thrown  back 
on  the  sole  reserve  of  conscientious  discharge  of  duty ; 
the  strongest,  the  most  stable,  the  most  trustworthy  of 
all  correct  incentives  to  action  indeed,  and  yet,  which 
when  alone,  often  leaves'  the  soul  in  disconsolation  and 
doubt.  Even  strong  men,  engaged  in  arduous  work,  need 
the  sympathy  and  expressed  regard  of  their  fellows'  for 
their  comfort  and  support  and  full  efficiency.  How  much 
more  men  of  sensitive  organism  and  tender  women,  em- 
ployed in  the  onerous  task  of  developing  the  intellectual 
faculties  of  the  young,  of  placing  before  them  the  mental 
pabulum  by  feeding  on  which  they  will  acquire  growth 
and  strength  and  stimulus  for  higher  endeavor  and  of  in- 
fluencing them  by  wholesome  instruction  and  example  to 
avoid  the  evil  and  choose  the  right  and  good  in  life. 
Surely  the  teacher  of  all  men  deserves  the  sympathy  and 
encouragement  of  right-thinking  and  virtuous  people  and 
every  community  ought  to  keep  alive,  and  on  proper  oc- 
casion to  express  its  sincere  interest  in  its  schools,  in 
their  work,  in  their  teachers,  in  their  pupils.  No  com- 
munity can  aflford  to  leave  its  schools  alone  without  coun- 
tenance, sympathy  and  assistance.  Every  man,  woman 
and  child,  be  he  patron  or  pupil,  or  without  any  direct 
connection  therewith,  ought  to  feel  himself  under  obliga- 
tion to  do  all  in  his  power  to  speed  the  good  work  and  to 
cheer  on  those  immediately  engaged  in  it.  The  influence 
for  good  of  such  sympathetic  consideration  and  action 
will  be  two- fold —  ( i )  in  stimulating  teachers  and  pupils 
to  higher  aims  and  eflForts;  and  (2)  by  a  natural  and 
necessary  reaction  on  the  community  in  elevating  its  tone, 
enlarging  its  intelligence  and  putting  it  on  a  higher  plane 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  93 

of  living  and  acting.  By  all  means,  my  friends,  do  what 
you  can  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  needful  institu- 
tions within  your  gates,  and,  so  far  as  in  you  lies,  in- 
fluence your  neighbors  in  this  and  the  adjoining  counties 
to  do  the  same.  In  blessing  others,  you  will  also  be 
blessed. 

2.  But  not  only  must  the  attitude  of  the  people  to- 
wards the  schools  be  friendly  and  helpful.  It  is  essential 
that  the  officers  into  whose  hands  these  vital  interests  are 
entrusted,  the  superintendents  of  schools  and  the  school 
trustees,  shall  be. men  of  character,  of  intelligence,  of 
loyalty  to  duty,  whose  only  concern  in  the  discharge  of 
official  functions  is  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  schools 
and  of  those  connected  with  them. 

That  this  has  not  been  the  case  always  is  too  plain  to 
require  discussion ;  that  it  is  not  universally  true  at  pres- 
ent is  well  known  to  those,  who  during  late  months',  have 
given  attention  to  the  subject.  While  many  of  these  offi- 
cers have  been  and  are  excellent  in  every  respect  and 
have  performed  their  duties  intelligently  and  assiduously, 
many  others  have  not  been  worth  a  fig  and  have  used 
their  office  for  personal  ends.  There  is  no  doubt  about 
this.  Its  exact  truth  cannot  be  seriously  questioned  by 
any  one  informed  on  the  subject.  A  young  man,  a  grad- 
uate of  Hampden-Sidney  College,  taught  a  public  school 
in  one  of  the  eastern  counties  of  the  State.  He  never  saw 
the  county  superintendent  until  the  closing  day  of  the  ses- 
sion, when  that  gentleman  put  in  an  appearance,  shook 
hands  with  him,  told  him  that  the  patrons  of  the  school 
were  pleased  with  him,  and  would  be  glad  to  have  him  re- 
turn and  bade  him  good-bye.  In  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant counties  of  the  State,  a  faithful  and  useful  superin- 
tendent was  superseded  by  a  man  of  dubious  character 


94  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

and  life,  who  had  a  poUtical  pull  and  who  was  of  no  man- 
ner of  use  in  the  office  to  which  he  was  appointed.  In 
another  county,  a  physician  of  political  influence  and 
large  practice  was  appointed  to  this  office,  who  in  the 
nature  of  things  was  incapacitated  by  professional  en- 
gagements from  attending  to  its  duties.  These  are  speci- 
men cases  and  the  thing  was  seen  to  be  so  bad  that  in 
our  late  Constitutional  Convention,  it  was  seriously  con- 
sidered whether  it  be  not  better  to  abolish  the  office  alto- 
gether, and  many  were  avowedly  in  favor  of  this  propo- 
sition, but  after  protracted  conference  it  was  deemed 
wiser  to  continue  the  office  and  to  constitute  the  State 
Board  of  Education  so  that  it  would  no  longer  be  a  politi- 
cal body,  but  most  largely  composed  of  educators,  de- 
voted to  the  work  throughout  the  State,  whose  appoint- 
ments will  henceforth  be  made  in  the  interest  of  the 
schools  and  not  of  a  political  party.  It  is  hoped  that  this 
arrangement  will  gradually  eliminate  the  worthless  school 
superintendents  and  fill  their  places  with  good  and  effi- 
cient men. 

The  matter  of  school  trustees  is'  also  one  of  great  im- 
portance. Many  of  them  are  competent  and  disinterested 
and  discharge  their  duties  wisely  and  well.  Many  others 
use  the  office  to  secure  positions  for  relatives  and  friends, 
regardless  of  fitness  and  for  the  location  of  school  houses, 
not  for  the  convenience  of  the  community,  but  of  them- 
selves or  of  certain  favored  individuals.  Nepotism  and 
favoritism  are  the  two  curses  which  attach  to  this  office. 
They  must  be  gotten  rid  of  or  there  is  little  prospect  of 
much  improvement.  In  the  late  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion I  was  anxious  to  have  the  election  of  school  trustees 
by  the  people  engrafted  on  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
land  as  an  indispensable  principle,  but  after  full  exami- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  95 

nation  of  the  question  under  our  peculiar  circumstances 
and  the  possibilities  growing  out  of  them,  it  appeared 
wiser  to  leave  its  adjustment  to  the  Legislature.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  General  Assembly  will  see  its  way  clear  to 
deal  with  this  question  at  an  early  day.  In  my  opinion, 
we  will  never  have  good  and  efficient  school  trustees  until 
they  are  made  directly  responsible  to  the  people  and  the 
people  have  authority  to  turn  out  unworthy  and  put  in 
good  men. 

And  now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  endeavored  as 
briefly  as  possible  and  in  plain,  straightforward  language 
to  lay  before  you  some  of  the  prominent  defects  of  our 
public  school  system,  with  the  suggestion  of  some  im- 
provements which  will  add  greatly  to  its  efficiency  and 
usefulness.  In  the  final  analysis  the  responsibility  rests 
on  the  people,  on  you  and  on  me.  It  is  the  duty  of  every 
citizen  to  keep  himself  informed  on  these  questions  and 
in  touch  with  all  movements  for  the  betterment  of  our 
social  condition.  We  must  look  to  the  character  and 
ability  of  those  who  make  and  administer  our  laws  and 
put  intelligent  and  honest  men  in  official  positions.  Next 
to  the  church  of  Christ,  including  in  it  the  Christian 
family,  the  school-house  is  the  most  important  factor  in 
the  enlargement  of  intelligence,  the  increase  of  virtue  and 
the  elevation  of  our  social  status.  We  owe  it  to  God,  to 
our  country,  to  our  State,  to  our  county,  to  our  families, 
to  our  friends,  to  the  rising  generation  and  to  generations' 
yet  unborn,  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  promote  and  perfect 
this  great  agency  for  the  betterment  of  mankind.  You 
can  do  something  towards  this  end.  I  can  do  something. 
Let  us  arise  and  be  about  it. 

I  thank  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  for  your  kind  pres- 
ence and  attention. 


LOCAL    TAXATION    FOR    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS 

UNDER  THE  PRESENT  STATE 

CONSTITUTION. 

Mr  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

THERE  are  two  provisions  in  the  Constitution  of 
Virginia  which  authorize  "local  taxation  for  public 
schools." 

The  first  of  these  is  found  in  section  136,  under  the 
"Article  on  Education  and  Public  Instruction,"  and  is  as 
follows :  "Each  county,  city,  town,  if  the  same  be  a  sepa- 
rate school  district,  and  school  district  is  authorized  to 
raise  additional  sums  by  a  tax  on  property  not  to  exceed 
in  the  aggregate  five  mills  on  the  dollar  in  any  one  year, 
to  be  apportioned  and  expended  by  the  local  school  au- 
thorities of  said  counties,  cities,  towns  and  districts  in 
establishing  and  maintaining  such  schools  as  in  their 
judgment  the  pubHc  welfare  may  require:  provided,  that 
such  primary  schools  as  may  be  established  in  any  one 
year  shall  be  maintained  at  least  four  months  of  that 
school  year,  before  any  part  of  the  fund  assessed  and 
collected  may  be  devoted  to  the  establishment  of  schools 
of  higher  grade.  The  boards  of  supervisors  of  the  sev- 
eral counties  and  the  councils  of  the  several  cities  and 
towns,  if  the  same  be  separate  school  districts,  shall  pro- 
vide for  the  levy  and  collection  of  such  local  school  taxes. 

The  second  provision  is  found  in  section  173,  under 
the  "Article  on  Taxation  and  Finance,"  last  clause  of  the 
section — as  follows:  "The  General  Assembly  may  au- 
thorize the  board  of  supervisors  of  any  county  or  the 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  97 

council  of  any  city  or  town,  to  levy  an  additional  capi- 
tation tax  not  exceeding  one  dollar  per  annum  on  every 
such  resident  within  its  limits,  which  shall  be  applied  in 
aid  of  the  public  schools  of  such  county,  city  or  town,  or 
for  such  other  county,  city  or  town  purpose  as  they  shall 
determine." 

Both  these  provisions  are  local  and  voluntary  and  can- 
not be  enforced  except  through  the  supervisors  or  coun- 
cils' elected  by  the  people.  Both,  therefore,  conform  to 
the  fundamental  principles  of  local  self-government. 
They  are  not  imposed  by  superior  authority,  but  are  vol- 
untarily assumed.  Both  have  in  view  primarily  the  im- 
provement of  the  advantages  offered  the  children  of  the 
locality  and  ultimately  the  increased  intelligence  and  cul- 
ture of  the  people,  the  enlarged  interest  of  householders 
and  tax-payers  in  the  betterment  of  their  school  system, 
and,  generally  speaking,  the  purification  of  the  franchise, 
the  elevation  of  the  masses',  the  promotion  of  virtue,  the 
advancement  of  civilization  and  the  making  of  our  State 
in  reality,  as  well  as  in  name,  "the  land  of  the  free  and 
the  home  of  the  brave — "the  land  of  the  free,"  of  men 
delivered  from  the  thraldom  of  ignorance,  sensuality  and 
vice,  who  think  and  act  for  themselves  independently  and 
correctly,  who  keep  before  them  high  ideals  of  right  and 
of  life,  and  who  ever  seek  to  improve  their  own  condition 
and  the  condition  of  those  about  them  practically,  intel- 
lectually, socially  and  morally ;  "the  home  of  the  brave," 
of  citizens,  who,  having  tasted  the  blessings  of  freedom 
and  of  intellectual  and  social  light,  have  the  courage  of 
their  convictions  and  are  ready,  if  need  be,  to  exert  in- 
fluence, to  make  sacrifices,  to  endure  hardness  and  to  put 
forth  effort  not  only  for  themselves  and  their  families, 


98  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

but  for  their  fellows,  not  so  highly  favored  and  for  gen- 
erations yet  to  come. 

The  first  provision,  which  allows  the  assessment  of  a 
tax  of  five  mills  on  the  dollar  of  property  has  reference 
wholly  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  public  schools  and  their 
improvement  from  every  point  of  view,  and  is  already  at 
the  command  of  the  legalized  authorities  to  be  put  into 
operation  at  their  discretion.  In  carrying  out  this  pro- 
vision the  General  Assembly  has  enacted  that,  "the  board 
of  supervisors  of  each  county  .  .  .  shall  levy  a  tax 
of  not  less  than  seven  and  a  half  cents,  nor  more  than 
twenty  cents,  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  of  the  assessed 
value  of  the  real  and  personal  property  in  the  county  for 
the  support  of  the  public  free  schools  of  the  county  and  a 
tax  of  not  less  than  seven  and  a  half  cents  on  the  hundred 
dollars  of  the  assessed  value  of  the  real  and  personal 
property  in  any  school  district  for  district  school  pur- 
poses." The  General  Assembly  also  provides'  that  if  the 
levy  is  not  sufficient  for  county  or  district  school  support, 
on  a  petition  from  the  county  school  board,  the  question 
of  other  school  taxation  may  be  submitted  to  the  qualified 
voters  of  county  or  district. 

The  second  constitutional  provision,  which  permits'  a 
supplementary  poll-tax  of  one  dollar,  can  be  utilized  only 
by  act  of  the  General  Assembly  and  may  be  directed  to 
the  upbuilding  of  schools  or  to  any  other  useful  purpose. 
It  is  to  the  first  of  these  methods  that  reference  is  made 
chiefly,  as  the  second  will  probably  not  be  called  into 
action  until  the  resources'  of  the  first  are  exhausted  or  to 
accomplish  some  subsidiary  purpose  with  only  indirect 
reference  to  public  schools. 

It  is  worthy  of  special  remark  that  not  only  cities  and 
counties  have  the  privilege  of  levying  a  local  tax  for 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  99 

schools,  but  that  "towns,  if  separate  school  districts,"  and 
"school  districts"  subordinate  to  counties  are  accorded  the 
same  right.  This  fact  is  of  interest  because  it  gives  scope 
for  improvement  not  only  to  the  larger  divisions  of  the 
school  system,  but  also  to  their  more  alert  and  progressive 
sub-divisions.  If  a  county  as  a  whole  is  unwilling  to  bear 
voluntary  taxation,  while  one  of  its  districts  feels  able 
and  anxious  to  advance,  the  latter  cannot  be  kept  back 
by  the  lethargy  or  poverty  of  the  former,  but  is  free  to  go 
forward  in  its  beneficent  endeavor  to  perfect  its  school 
faciHties  and  advantages.  This  provision  is  of  great 
value — (i)  as  it  enables  small  bodies  of  aggressive  and 
enlightened  citizens  to  combine  for  the  betterment  of 
their  conditions,  and  (2)  as  such  action  sets  an  example 
which  will  probably  be  followed  by  adjacent  districts  and 
counties. 

The  most  notable  thing,  however,  about  the  provision 
in  section  136  is  that  the  local  tax  collected  is  "to  be  ap- 
portioned and  expended  by  the  local  school  authorities  of 
such  counties,  cities',  towns  and  districts  in  establishing 
and  maintaining  such  schools  as  in  their  judgment  the 
public  welfare  may  require,"  the  only  proviso  being  "that 
such  primary  schools  as  may  be  established  in  any  school 
year  shall  be  maintained  at  least  four  months  of  that 
year,  before  any  part  of  the  fund  assessed  and  collected 
may  be  devoted  to  the  establishment  of  schools  of  higher 
grade,"  t.  e.,  it  is  mandatory  that  the  primary  schools 
shall  be  kept  open  at  least  four  months  in  the  year, 
though  they  ought  to  be,  and  doubtless  in  most  cases  will 
be,  maintained  for  a  much  longer  period. 

Here,  now,  is  something  entirely  new  in  the  Constitu- 
tion of  Virginia — a  provision  which  looks  indeed  to  the 
prevalance  of  good  primary  schools  as  the  essential  basis 


lOO  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

of  all  others,  and  these  to  be  maintained  a  certain  mini- 
mum of  time,  but  which  has  for  its  chief  object  the  estab- 
Hshment  of  graded  and  high  schools'  to  such  an  extent  as 
the  judgment  of  local  authorities  may  deem  necessary  for 
the  public  welfare.  This,  then,  is  a  provision  that  looks 
to  higher  education,  which  has  for  its  object  not  merely 
to  communicate  the  rudiments,  but  the  awakening  of  the 
intelligence  to  higher  departments  of  thought  and  leading 
it  along  lines  which  tend  to  incite  aspiration  and  effort 
and  cause  it  to  seek  after  high  and  noble  things  and  to 
exercise  itself  in  obtaining  and  using  them.  The  public 
school  fund  derived  from  the  State,  with  the  addition  of 
so  much  of  that  gotten  from  local  taxation  as  may  be 
necessary  to  maintain  primary  schools  for  all  children  at 
least  four  months  in  the  year  must  be  used  for  that  pur- 
pose. After  that,  every  dollar  obtained  from  local  tax- 
ation may  be  employed  by  local  authorities  in  improving 
the  educational  advantages  of  the  district,  county  or  city, 
as  "the  public  welfare  may  demand." 

It  ought  also  to  be  emphasized  that  while  five  mills 
on  the  dollar  of  property  is  the  maximum  of  local  tax 
allowed  in  any  one  year,  supervisors  of  counties  are  re- 
quired to  levy  annually  three-fourths  of  one  mill,  and  at 
the  request  of  the  school  board  may  levy  as  much  as  two 
mills  on  the  dollar  of  property  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
county  schools  and  the  same  amount  for  district  schools. 
If  they  fail  to  levy  enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
schools,  then,  on  petition  in  writing  from  the  school 
board,  they  are  required  to  refer  the  question  to  the  qual- 
ified voters  of  the  county  or  district,  as  the  case  may  be. 
It  is  important  to  notice  that  in  such  vote,  instead  of  the 
maximum  allowed,  any  smaller  amount  agreed  on — say, 
one  mill,  or  even  the  half  of  one  mill — may  be  taken.    I 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  loi 

am  careful  to  call  your  attention  to  this  point — (i)  be- 
cause a  very  large  portion  of  the  tax-payers  in  the  coun- 
ties in  vast  sections  of  Virginia  are  poor  and  find  any  in- 
crease of  taxation  burdensome;  (2)  because  local  taxa- 
tion, if  not  cautiously  managed,  will  arouse  antagonism, 
hurtful  to  the  cause  and  an  impediment  to  progress;  (3) 
because  there  seems  to  be  in  the  make-up  of  a  good  many 
men  an  almost  irrational  prejudice  against  increased 
taxation,  however  laudable  the  object  or  promising  and 
profitable  its  results.  The  old  maxim,  Festina  lente 
(Hasten  slowly)  is  certainly  applicable  here. 

Two  things  are  naturally  suggested  by  what  has  been 
said — (i)  Local  taxation  is  not  generally  popular  in  the 
counties,  and  needs'  to  be  handled  with  discretion.  I  say 
"in  the  counties,"  and,  with  some  exceptions,  this  is  true, 
and  yet  it  is  in  the  counties  that  interest  chiefly  centers, 
as  cities  and  towns  are  abundantly  able  to  take  care  of 
themselves  and  are  generally  doing  so;  (2)  any  perma- 
nent improvement  in  the  public  schools  is'  involved  in  and 
dependent  on  local  taxation  and  can  hardly  be  attained 
without  it. 

The  only  remark  that  needs  to  be  made  under  the  first 
head  is  in  reference  to  the  kind  of  men  who  ought  to  be 
chosen  as  superintendents  of  divisions  and  school  trus- 
tees. It  goes  without  the  saying,  that  they  ought  to  be 
men  of  intelligence,  of  information,  of  industry,  of  unsel- 
fishness and  of  courage,  who,  having  undertaken  a  trust 
have  moral  force  enough  to  recognize  the  obligations  they 
assume  and  to  address  themselves  to  their  discharge.  It 
is  a  reproach  on  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  that  in 
the  past  its  public  school  system  has  been  so  largely  a  part 
of  the  political  machine.  It  is  a  harbinger  of  good  for 
the   future  that  the  State  Board  of  Education,  as  at 


I02  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

present  constituted,  has  declared  the  system  non-political 
and  taken  steps  for  its  administration  as  such.  But  I 
seriously  doubt  whether  the  system  will  ever  become 
what  it  ought  to  be  until  these  officials  are  elected  by  the 
people,  and  thus  made  directly  amenable  to  the  people. 
These  men  have  high  and  holy  responsibilities  resting  on 
them,  and  it  is  their  province  to  understand  the  duties 
they  owe,  to  manifest  interest  in  the  sphere  of  effort  they 
occupy  and  to  evoke  the  sympathy  and  co-operation  of 
their  neighbors  and  fellow-citizens  in  all  plans  for  for- 
ward movements.  When  they  fail  in  this  they  ought  to 
drop  out  and  leave  room  for  others  capable  of  handling 
the  situation.  The  best  judges  of  these  qualifications  and 
of  the  discharge  of  these  duties  are  the  people  for  whose 
benefit  the  schools  are  maintained  and  among  whom  these 
school  officials  live  and  act.  When  the  people  have  confi- 
dence in  the  integrity,  wisdom  and  zeal  of  their  officers, 
they  will  listen  cheerfully  to  their  suggestions,  follow 
their  advice  and  co-operate  in  their  measures. 

The  second  point — namely,  the  dependence  of  the 
school  system  on  local  taxation  for  improvement — needs 
fuller  elucidation  and  illustration. 

I  have  it  on  high  authority,  as'  proceeding  from  the 
officers  of  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction  and 
the  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Education,  that  "the 
best  school  systems  are  to  be  found  where  the  local  taxes 
are  relied  on  to  run  the  schools,"  and,  again,  "if  our 
schools  are  to  be  improved,  the  improvement  must  come 
from  additional  funds  raised  by  local  taxation."  These 
are  pregnant  sentences'  and  may  well  awaken  profound 
interest  on  the  subject. 

If  the  question  be  asked,  In  what  localities  the  best 
school  systems  in  the  United  States  are  found?  the  an- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  103 

swer  will  come  back  readily  from  all  lips  qualified  to 
speak,  in  the  North  Atlantic,  North  Central  and  Western 
divisions'  of  the  country — in  Massachusetts,  New  York, 
Michigan,  California,  etc. — and  the  answer  is  justified  by 
the  facts.  The  schools  in  those  divisions  and  representa- 
tive States  have  longer  terms,  are  better  housed,  pay 
more  remunerative  salaries,  have  more  ample  appliances' 
and  generally  offer  their  pupils  far  better  advantages 
than  those  in  the  South  Atlantic  and  South  Central  div- 
isions. It  is  also  true  that  the  grand  divisions  of  the 
country  which  lead  in  educational  facilities  also  derive 
much  the  larger  share  of  the  funds  used  by  them  from 
local  taxation,  while  the  divisions  in  which  the  advan- 
tages are  least  have  made  but  little  advance  in  this  direc- 
tion. Thus,  in  the  North  Atlantic  division,  for  every  dol- 
lar secured  from  the  State,  $5.44  are  raised  by  local  tax- 
ation, and  in  the  North  Central  division,  $8.86  are  raised 
by  local  taxation  for  every  dollar  obtained  from  the  State. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  South  Atlantic  division  only 
$1.52,  and  in  the  South  Central  division  $1.07  is  gotten 
from  local  taxes  for  every  dollar  received  from  the  State. 
At  the  same  time,  the  North  Atlantic  division  raises  four 
times  as  much  per  pupil  of  school  age  as  does  the  South 
Atlantic  division,  and  the  North  Central  division  about 
the  same  proportion  in  advance  of  the  South  Central 
division. 

An  identical  lesson  is  learned  from  a  comparison  of 
the  more  and  less  advanced  States  of  the  American 
Union,  when  taken  separately.  For  example,  for  every 
dollar  in  Massachusetts  derived  from  State  taxation, 
$126.  are  raised  from  local  taxation,  98  per  cent,  of  its 
school  fund  being  local,  whereas  in  Virginia  the  State 
and  local  taxes  are  about  equal.     The  result  is  that  in 


I04  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Massachusetts  $22.37  ^^^  secured  for  every  pupil  of 
school  age,  while  Virginia  furnishes  $3.50  for  the  same 
class.  So,  too,  in  Ohio  $6.51  are  secured  by  local  tax- 
ation for  every  dollar  from  the  State,  and  $13.38  assured 
to  every  pupil  of  school  age,  while  in  Kentucky  only  50 
per  cent,  of  the  amount  received  from  the  State  is  se- 
cured from  local  taxes,  and  but  $4.41  contributed  per 
pupil.* 

We  need  not,  however,  go  outside  our  own  borders  to 
learn  the  same  lesson,  though,  perhaps,  in  not  so  striking 
a  manner,  for  the  principle  of  local  taxation  has  been 
applied  in  some  of  the  cities  and  towns  of  Virginia  to  an 
extent  that  is  gratifying,  and  to  some  extent  in  a  few  of 
the  counties,  and  with  results  that  may  well  inspire  the 
remainder  of  the  State  to  higher  efforts  in  this  direction. 
Let  us  take  a  few  of  these  cities  at  random  and  compare 
what  is'  being  done  by  them  with  the  efforts  being  made 
by  the  counties  and  note  the  difference  in  results.  In  the 
city  of  Danville  more  than  twice  as  much  is  raised  by 
local  taxation  as  is  gotten  from  the  State;  in  Richmond 
and  Lynchburg  more  than  three  times  as  much,  and  each 
has  a  school  term  of  nine  or  ten  months,  and  every  child 
has  access  to  a  graded  and  high  school,  whereas  in  Prince 
Edward  not  more  than  two-thirds  as  much  is  secured  by 
local  taxation  as  from  the  State;  in  Brunswick  not  a 
third;  in  Amelia  and  Buchanan  a  little  over  a  half,  Prince 
Edward  having  a  school  term  of  five  and  a  half  months, 
Brunswick  five  and  a  fourth,  Amelia  six  and  a  third,  and 
Buchanan  four  and  two-thirds  months.    The  counties  are 

*  The  foregoing  figures  are  derived  from  United  States  Com- 
missioner of  Education.    Report,  1902. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  105 

also  sadly  below  the  cities  in  school  houses  and  property, 
the  qualification  of  teachers,  libraries,  appliances,  etc.** 

It  seems  now  to  be  pretty  clearly  shown  that  local  tax- 
ation  has  been  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  school  im- 
provement, where  such  advance  has  been  made.  It  is  a 
natural  inference  that  whatever  forward  steps  are  to  be 
taken  in  future  must  be  brought  about  by  the  same  means. 

How,  then,  is  the  cause  of  local  taxation  to  be  ad- 
vanced?  What  means  can  be  employed  hopefully  to 
arouse  interest,  so  that  the  people  will  come  to  submit 
cheerfully  to  an  increase  of  their  burdens'  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  their  race  ? 

1.  In  reply  to  this  question,  I  have  already  stated  my 
belief  that  it  will  be  hard  to  bring  it  about  so  long  as 
division  superintendents  and  school  trustees  are  appointed 
as  at  present.  They  are  too  far  removed  from  the  people 
and  consequently  little  cordial  sympathy  exists  between 
them  and  the  people.  It  makes  little  difference  to  any  one 
whether  the  Governor,  Attorney-General  or  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Instruction  is  elected  by  the  people,  as  at 
present,  or  by  the  Legislature,  as  formerly,  but  it  makes 
a  world  of  difference  whether  local  officers  are  appointed 
by  a  foreign  authority  or  elected  by  the  people,  whom 
they  are  to  serve. 

2.  Again,  a  persistent  effort  must  be  inaugurated  in 
every  county  and  in  every  district  of  every  county  to  in- 
terest the  people,  individually  and  collectively,  in  educa- 
tion, and  to  incite  them  to  higher  endeavor  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  young.  The  school  house  must  be  made  an 
attractive  place,  the  center  of  intellectual  and  social  light, 
the  meeting  ground  of  neighbors  and  friends  in  common 

**  These  figures  have  been  gotten  from  the  Virginia  School 
Report,  i902-'o3. 


io6  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

interest  for  the  advancement  of  knowledge  and  culture. 
In  order  to  this,  the  schools  must  be  brought  more  fre- 
quently and  prominently  to  their  attention  as  objects  of 
great  worth,  their  work  be  explained,  their  needs  be  made 
known  and  the  community  thus  be  brought  into  cordial 
sympathy  with  them.  The  assistance  of  the  pulpit  and 
of  public  meetings  may  well  be  invoked  in  this  behalf.  It 
is  difficult  to  get  people  to  submit  to  sacrifices  for  things 
about  which  they  know  and  care  nothing,  but  once  im- 
press them  with  their  vital  importance  and  secure  their 
personal  interest,  and  the  victory  is  won.  This  is  not  a 
matter  of  merely  individual  concern.  While  a  beginning 
must  be  made  with  individuals,  it  must  not  stop  there. 
Each  individual  must  let  his  influence  be  felt,  that  a  gen- 
eral awakening  may  be  accomplished  and  maintained. 
This  is,  as  I  understand  it,  the  prime  object  of  "the  Co- 
operative Education  Commission  of  Virginia,"  assembled 
here  to-day.  It  is  to  enlighten  the  minds  and  awaken  the 
dormant  energies  of  the  people  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  its  constituent  parts  in  behalf  of  the  Public  School 
System,  so  that  there  may  be  good  graded  schools  and  at 
least  one  high  school  in  every  county.  How  necessary 
this  is  in  the  matter  of  local  taxation,  which  lies  at  the 
basis  of  all  such  advance,  is  illustrated  by  the  following 
authentic  facts  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge  lately. 
In  one  of  the  counties  of  our  State,  usually  regarded  as 
highly  favored  in  some  respects,  and  in  the  olden  time  the 
abode  of  families  of  wealth,  education  and  social  culture, 
not  long  since  the  Board  of  School  Trustees  agreed  to  re- 
quest the  supervisors  to  levy  a  tax  of  one  mill  on  the 
dollar  of  property  for  the  special  improvement  of  the 
school-houses,  some  of  which  are  a  reproach  to  our  civil- 
ization.    The  trustees'  wished  to  ask  for  two  mills,  but 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  107 

were  dissuaded  for  fear  that  they  would  get  nothing,  and 
having  experience  that  "half  a  loaf  is  better  than  no 
bread,"  adjusted  themselves  to  circumstances  and  pre- 
ferred the  request.  One  of  the  supervisors,  a  man  of 
high  character  and  an  efficient  and  liberal  minded  officer, 
in  view  of  the  approaching  meeting  of  his  board,  and 
desiring  to  inform  himself  of  the  views  and  feelings  of 
the  tax-payers'  of  his  district,  sent  them  individually  a 
written  communication,  stating  in  brief,  clear  language 
the  facts  of  the  case  and  asking  their  opinion  in  the  prem- 
ises. When  last  heard  from  he  had  received  seventy- 
three  replies,  eleven  of  which  are  favorable  and  sixty-two 
opposed,  some  of  them  violently  and  uncompromisingly, 
to  the  tax.  Among  the  latter  are  men  of  intelligence,  of 
considerable  means  and  of  large  influence. 

Now,  here  are  facts — facts  that  must  be  admitted, 
reckoned  with  and  provided  against,  and  they  indicate 
that  the  people  as'  a  whole  are  little  interested  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  opposed  to  local  taxation  and  willing  to  let 
what  they  regard  as  "well  enough  alone."  They  cheer- 
fully take  what  the  State  gives  them  or  can  be  derived 
from  sources  outside  of  themselves,  but  as  to  making  per- 
sonal sacrifices  to  achieve  results,  that  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. 

Manifestly,  if  this  state  of  thought  and  sentiment 
continues  to  prevail,  the  outlook  is  discouraging  in  the 
extreme.  It  must  be  modified,  rectified,  reversed,  or 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  noble  youth,  possess- 
ing grand  possibilities,  must  still  be  denied  opportunity  of 
self -development  and  left  in  situations  from  which  they 
cannot  disentangle  themselves,  instead,  of  being  helped 
forward  to  lives  of  large  and  distinguished  usefulness. 
Every  interest,  civil  and  social,  intellectual  and  moral, 


io8  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

financial  and  economical,  political  and  religious'  must  be 
left  to  suffer  and  the  old  Commonwealth,  once  so  re- 
nowned in  the  annals  of  war  and  the  councils  of  peace, 
be  content  to  struggle  on  with  only  a  secondary  position 
in  the  galaxy  of  States  and  the  work  of  the  world.  But, 
is  this  to  be?  I  call  on  you,  Virginians,  to  answer  this 
question!  I  call  on  you,  educators,  gathered  from  all 
parts  of  the  State,  with  your  minds  enlightened  and  your 
spirits  aglow  for  the  uplifting  of  your  fellow-citizens',  to 
make  reply !  I  call  on  you,  members  of  the  Co-operative 
Education  Commission,  lately  inaugurated  for  a  cam- 
paign against  ignorance  and  deterioration,  and  in  behalf 
of  the  enlarged  intelligence  and  increased  virtue  of  the 
whole  people,  to  say  whether  these  objects  are  not  grand 
enough,  good  enough,  glorious  enough  in  their  achieve- 
ment to  inspire  the  zeal,  animate  the  courage  and  direct 
the  energies  of  every  lover  of  freedom? 

This  is  no  school-boy  task  that  is  before  you.  It  is 
no  merely  academic  problem  that  you  have  to  solve.  It  is 
not  a  transient  work  to  be  performed  in  a  day  or  a  year 
or  a  brief  series  of  years,  that  you  undertake.  It  is  the 
enlightenment  and  elevation  of  a  large  portion  of  the  citi- 
zenship of  the  State.  It  is  the  bringing  of  them  into  line 
with  the  progress,  the  best  thought,  the  most  approved 
methods  of  the  age.  It  is  their  conversion  from  a  state 
of  ignorance,  indifference  or  hostility  to  one  of  friend- 
ship, co-operation  and  personal  endeavor.  It  is  the 
uniting  of  our  people  throughout  all  our  borders'  in  one 
common  effort,  each  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  other 
and  all  to  conspire  for  the  well-being  of  each.  It  is  to 
fulfill  the  Royal  Law,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself" ;  to  measure  up  to  the  Golden  Rule,  "As  ye  would 
that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  also  to  them  likewise." 


THE   RELATION   OF   THE   CITIZEN   TO   THE 
PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

I  do  not  know  how  better  to  introduce  the  subject  to 
which  I  am  to  ask  your  attention  than  by  the  quota- 
tion of  some  sentences  from  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie's  "Tri- 
umphant Democracy."  In  speaking  of  the  danger  to  this 
country  from  the  teeming  millions'  of  foreign  immigrants 
pressing  into  it,  he  says :  "The  generosity,  shall  I  not  say 
the  incredible  generosity,  with  which  the  republic  has 
dealt  with  these  people,  met  its  reward.  They  are  won 
to  her  side  by  being  offered  for  subjectship  the  boon  of 
citizenship.  For  the  denial  of  equal  privileges  at  home, 
the  new  land  meets  them  with  perfect  equality,  saying,  be 
not  only  with  us,  but  be  of  us'.  They  reach  the  shores  of 
the  republic  subjects,  (insulting  word),  and  she  makes 
them  citizens ;  serfs,  and  she  makes  them  men,  and  their 
children  she  takes  gently  by  the  hand  and  leads  to  the 
public  schools  which  she  has  founded  for  her  own  chil- 
dren, and  gives  them  without  money  and  without  price,  a 
good  primary  education  as'  the  most  precious  gift  she  has, 
in  her  bountiful  hand,  to  bestow  upon  human  beings." 

We  of  the  South  are  not  much  concerned,  on  our  own 
account,  with  the  question  of  foreign  immigration.  It  is 
most  largely  with  our  native  population,  white  and  negro, 
that  we  have  to  deal.  The  terms  of  the  proposition  to  be 
treated  in  our  discussion,  however,  are  the  same  with 
those  so  clearly  and  truthfully  brought  to  view  in  th*'"'' 
sentences — Citizenship  and  the  Public  Schools. 


no  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

One  of  the  chief  grounds  of  gratitude  which  presents 
itself  on  this  occasion  is  that  we  are  citizens  of  the  State 
of  Virginia,  of  the  United  States  of  America.  I  have  not 
time  to  explicate  this  statement,  nor  do  I  regard  its  expli- 
cation important.  The  mere  recognition  of  the  fact  of 
citizenship  in  one  of  the  oldest  and  noblest  of  the  Com- 
monwealths of  our  great  republic  is  enough  to  awaken 
the  profoundest  feelings  of  honorable  pride  and  thanks- 
giving in  the  heart  of  him  who  is  heir  to  this"  inestimable 
boon.  To  be  a  Roman  citizen  about  the  time  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  was  both  an  honor  and  safeguard;  to  be  an 
American  citizen  in  its  twentieth  century  carries  with  it  a 
thousand-fold  more  of  blessing  and  advantage. 

The  people  of  Virginia — native  and  naturalized,  male 
and  female,  white  and  colored,  old  and  young — ^are  its 
citizens.  As  such  they  dwell  under  the  aegis  of  its  protec- 
tion, and  are  assured  of  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of 
their  inherent  rights.  We  live  under  a  government  "of 
the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people,"  "sit  every 
man  under  his  own  vine  and  under  his  own  fig-tree"  in 
the  exercise  of  our  undisputed  privileges  and  are  gath- 
ered here  to-night  in  friendly  conference  to  consider 
some  questions  of  importance  to  ourselves  as  individuals 
and  to  the  body-politic  as'  a  whole. 

It  is  one  of  the  prime  principles  both  of  moral  and 
sociological  science,  that  when  men  come  together  in  or- 
ganized society,  they  are  bound  together  by  ties  of  recip- 
rocal obligation.  No  r'elation  exists  in  this  world  which 
does  not  carry  with  it  corresponding  duty.  Human  life 
is  a  scene  of  mutual  action  and  re-action,  of  giving  and 
receiving,  of  reciprocation.  This  principle  is  imbedded 
in  our  natures,  revealed  in  our  every-day  activities  and 
expressed  in  the  language  used  in  ordinary  intercourse. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  in 

Take,  for  illustration,  a  few  of  the  familiar  antonyms  of 
our  mother  tongue,  and  note  the  instruction  they  give — 
husband,  wife;  parent,  child;  teacher,  pupil;  seller, 
buyer;  master,  servant;  State,  citizen.  Each  term  of 
these  couplets  appears  in  a  sense  to  be  antithetic,  and  yet 
each  expresses  relation  and  interdependence — no  hus- 
band, no  wife;  no  parent,  no  child;  no  teacher,  no  pupil; 
no  seller,  no  buyer ;  no  master,  no  servant ;  no  State,  no 
citizen,  and  vice  versa.  The  one  cannot  exist  without  the 
other.  They  co-exist  in  their  existence,  and  in  their  co- 
existence there  arise  obligations  from  one  to  the  other. 
They  are  correlatives  and  from  their  mutual  relations 
emerge  duties  and  responsibilities,  important  and  impera- 
tive, which  cannot  properly  be  overlooked  or  disregarded. 
The  State  owes  the  citizen  protection,  defence,  assistance 
in  the  maintenance,  enjoyment  and  prosecution  of  his 
rights;  the  citizen  owes  the  State  fealty,  loyalty,  service 
in  its  endeavors  to  promote  the  progress,  well-being  and 
happiness  of  its  people. 

How  far  the  State  may  go  in  affording  its  inhabitants 
assistance  is  for  its  qualified  citizens  to  determine  by  con- 
stitutional provision  and  legislative  enactment.  When  its 
sphere  of  action  has  been  settled  and  it  proceeds  to  per- 
form its  functions,  by  the  law  of  reciprocity  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  citizen  to  stand  by  and  aid  it  in  its  efforts  to 
effectuate  the  objects  placed  before  it. 

The  State,  then,  we  see,  is  a  complex  unity,  with  man- 
ifold functions,  reaching  out  in  various  directions",  all 
having  the  same  end  in  view — to  wit:  the  establishment 
and  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  the  people  as  individuals 
and  as  an  integral  whole. 

One  thing,  committed  to  the  oversight  of  the  State, 
and  now  generally  agreed  on  as  important  and  indispen- 


1 12  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

sable  to  the  public  well-being,  is  the  education  of  the 
masses.  It  has  been  determined  and  embodied  in  the  or- 
ganic law,  that  ignorance  is  a  monstrous'  evil,  a  menace  to 
civilization,  a  bar  to  prosperity,  the  parent  and  fosterer 
of  vice,  the  harbinger  of  crime,  destructive  of  the  rights 
of  the  people  and  injurious  to  the  integrity  of  society  and 
of  the  State  itself.  It  is,  also,  generally  conceded  that  if 
Virginia  is  to  regain  and  maintain  her  ascendency  in  the 
sisterhood  of  States  and  to  retake  her  place  in  the  van- 
guard of  civilization,  it  must  be  through  the  educated  in- 
telligence of  her  population.  Hence  the  establishment 
throughout  the  Commonwealth  of  a  comprehensive  sys- 
tem of  "public  instruction  and  education,"  the  design  of 
which  is  to  give  the  rudiments  of  knowledge  to  every 
child  and  higher  training  to  all  who  show  themselves  able 
and  willing  to  take  advantage  of  these  opportunities.  The 
Constitution  of  the  State,  explicated  and  enforced  by  its 
laws,  has  clearly  and  irrevocably  determined  on  a  broader 
and  deeper  intellectual  and  moral  culture  for  all  classes 
of  her  people  as  essential  to  their  welfare. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  place  before  you  as  briefly 
and  clearly  as  may  be  the  principles  which  underlie  the 
solution  of  the  problem — "What  is  the  relation  of  the  cit- 
izen to  the  public  schools?"  If  my  diagnosis  and  pre- 
sentation of  the  situation  are  correct,  I  think  you  will 
agree  with  me,  that  from  every  point  of  view — ^personal 
and  public,  social,  economic,  patriotic,  ethical  and  relig- 
ious— the  attitude  of  the  citizen  to  the  public  schools" 
ought  to  be  sympathetic  and  helpful. 

I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  every  citizen  ought  to  send 
his  child  to  the  public  schools.  There  may  be  good  rea- 
sons why  he  should  not  do  so.  This  is  a  free  country,  and 
if  a  parent  or  guardian  prefers  some  other  system  of  in- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  113 

struction  for  those  committed  to  his  care,  it  is  right  for 
him  to  act  on  his  convictions. 

Nor  do  I  assert  that  the  citizen  is  under  obligation  to 
neglect  his  personal  affairs — his  family,  his  business,  his 
church — in  order  to  minister  to  this  important  interest.  It 
is  true  that  a  man's'  personal  interests  are  largely  depend- 
ent for  good  or  evil  on  the  intelligence  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lives,  and  it  therefore  behooves  him  to  give 
what  attention  he  can  to  this  department,  but  often  his 
whole  time  is  necessarily  absorbed  in  the  discharge  of  im- 
perative obligations,  and  there  are  those  appointed  and 
delegated  by  the  State,  whose  special  duty  it  is  to  attend 
to  the  schools,  and  who  are  responsible  before  the  law 
and  their  own  consciences  for  intelligent  assiduity  in  their 
several  spheres  of  employment. 

What  I  do  intend  to  suggest  and  to  press  on  your  in- 
telligent consideration  is,  that  after  these  delegated 
agents — the  State  Board  of  Education,  the  State  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  the  Division  Superintend- 
ents, the  County  and  District  Trustees  and  the  Teach- 
ers— have  given  full  service,  there  is  still  a  sphere  of  in- 
fluence and  effort  which  belongs  to  the  citizen,  without 
whose  aid  the  schools  cannot  attain  their  complete  use- 
fulness. There  is  need  of  the  co-operation  and  support 
of  the  community,  and  of  every  community,  in  order  to 
the  realization  of  the  full  benefits'  of  the  system. 

It  is  the  recognition  of  this  fact  and  the  profound 
conviction  produced  by  it,  that  inspired  certain  gentlemen, 
interested  in  and  prominently  identified  with  education, 
to  unite  in  the  formation  of  "the  Co-operative  Education 
Commission  of  Virginia,"  the  object  of  which  is  to  arouse 
public  sentiment  and  to  secure  concert  of  action  on  the 
part  of  the  people. 


H4  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

This  movement  is  greatly  needed.  There  is  still  some 
hostility  and  much  apathy  throughout  the  Common- 
wealth. It  can  only  be  removed  by  the  diffusion  of  in- 
telligence and  by  personal  and  aggregated  influence  in 
rallying  the  people  to  the  help  of  the  State. 

Another  interesting  question  connected  with  this  sub- 
ject is,  How  can  the  individual  citizen  contribute  to  the 
welfare  of  the  public  schools?  What  can  he  do  to  ad- 
vance their  interests,  increase  their  usefulness  and  en- 
large their  power  for  good?  What  can  he  bring  to  the 
common  effort?  I  reply  that  he  can  give  his  sympathy, 
his  influence,  the  inspiration  of  his  example  and  such 
help  as  circumstances  may  permit  and  justify. 

But  individual  effort  alone  will  not  avail.  It  is  good, 
as  far  as  it  goes,  but  there  is  need  of  combination  and 
aggregated  force.  It  is,  therefore,  recommended  that 
county,  district  or  communal  associations  be  formed,  em- 
bracing in  their  membership  the  citizens  of  a  community, 
larger  or  smaller,  with  the  avowed  object  of  aiding  in 
this  movement. 

To  promote  this  object  a  modest  leaflet  has  been  is- 
sued and  widely  distributed  with  the  special  design  of 
suggesting  and  encouraging  such  organizations.  It  is  an 
unpretentious  publication,  and  all  the  better  for  that.  It 
is  just  six  inches  long  and  three  and  a  half  inches  broad, 
and  yet  it  is  worth  many  times  its'  weight  in  gold.  It  is 
infused  throughout  with  good,  every-day  common  sense, 
and  presents  a  scheme  of  effort  practicable  in  its  pro- 
posals and  methods.  It  does  not  call  for  the  flourish  of 
trumpets  or  the  beating  of  drums,  the  large  expenditure 
of  money  or  the  great  absorption  of  time,  but  marks  out 
a  plan  by  which  busy  men  and  women  may  come  together 
for  the  performance  of  a  service  of  inestimable    value 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  115 

without  detracting  from  their  vitaHty,  but  with  accretions 
of  force  for  their  ordinary  employments. 

( 1 )  The  name  of  the  proposed  organization  is  attrac- 
tive, "The  School  Improvement  League  of ,"  and 

sets  forth  clearly  the  object  in  view.  While  this  title  is 
single  and  definite  in  its  significance,  it  contains  three  im- 
portant thoughts — (a)  It  is  a  league,  an  alliance,  a  combi- 
nation. It  is  a  recognition  of  the  old  adage,  "In  union 
there  is  strength."  Its  members  come  together  with  a 
common  purpose  and  to  attain  a  common  end.  (b)  The 
end  in  view  is  the  schools,  already  established  by  the 
State  and  fostered  by  the  cities,  counties  and  districts. 
These  schools  exist,  are  at  work  and  are  generally  doing 
some  good  work.  But  none  of  them  has  attained  the 
ideal  and  many  fall  far  short  in  many  respects.  There- 
fore, the  (c)  controlling  thought  is  their  improvement, 
the  amendment  of  their  deficiencies ;  the  infusion  of  new 
life,  and  interest  and  power. 

The  formation  of  one  of  these  leagues,  therefore, 
means  the  creation  of  a  new  factor,  in  addition  to  those 
provided  by  law,  for  the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  the 
rising  generation,  and  is  a  tribute  to  the  future. 

(2)  The  "constitution"  proposed  for  these  leagues  is 
a  model  of  brevity  and  simplicity,  dealing  in  a  few  sen- 
tences with  their  membership,  officers,  management,  quo- 
rum, executive  committee,  meetings  and  amendments.  It 
is  also  proposed  that  each  "league"  shall  become  a  con- 
stituent part  of  the  "Co-operative  Education  Commis- 
sion," and  participate  in  its  work,  and  that  the  effort  shall 
be  made  to  improve  every  school  in  the  community. 

(3)  The  "suggestions"  of  the  leaflet,  following  the 
constitution,  are  timely  and  useful,  but  do  not  call  for 
special  remark,  and  so  I  pass  on  to  the  important  point  of 


1 16  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

(4)  "Aims."  These  leagues  may  be  formed,  but  un- 
less inspiring  objects  claim  their  attention,  they  will  be  in- 
efficient and  accomplish  nothing.  If  there  is  one  thing 
which  excites  the  disgust  of  serious-minded  and  earnest 
people,  it  is  the  show  of  something  while  nothing  worthy 
is  in  view — sham — 'whereas,  if  a  high  and  noble  purpose 
is  indulged,  the  object  of  which  is  practicable,  the  warm- 
est impulses  of  the  heart  are  enlisted.  It  is,  therefore, 
important  that  those  who  are  interested  in  school  im- 
provement shall  seek  to  know  their  real  condition,  their 
defects  as  well  as  their  excellencies,  that  being  intelli-' 
gently  informed,  means  may  be  found  to  elevate  and  ad- 
vance them.  It  is  not  suggested  that  every  citizen  is  com- 
petent to  this  task.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  freely  conceded 
that  many  are  not,  and  that  here,  as  everywhere,  leaders 
are  needed.  What  is  essential  is  for  the  men  and  women 
of  earnestness  and  good,  common  sense,  who,  when  they 
see  a  thing,  are  able  to  know  it,  to  understand  the  adapta- 
tion of  things  to  one  another,  the  relation  of  antecedent 
and  consequent,  of  cause  and  effect,  of  means  and  end; 
how  one  thing  being  brought  about,  another  may  be 
secured,  to  come  forward  and  take  part  in  this  great  ef- 
fort. The  preachers,  the  doctors,  the  lawyers,  the  busi- 
ness men,  the  mechanics,  the  farmers,  the  working  peo- 
ple, the  women — all  who  are  accustomed  to  look  after  the 
every-day  affairs  of  life — must  be  enlisted  with  the 
school  officials  in  studying  and  solving  the  problem  now 
thrust  upon  us.  It  is  a  plain  and  practical  thing  that 
demands  attention.  It  is  a  matter  in  which  every  one  is 
more  or  less  concerned,  whether  the  interest  be  recog- 
nized or  not.  It  ought  not  to  be  difficult  to  arouse  this 
interest  and  to  rally  it  to  the  achievement  of  the  desired 
result.     Every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  Common- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  117 

wealth,  who  will  enter  on  the  work  with  zeal  and  intelli- 
gence can  do  something  to  aid  in  its  accomplishment. 

To  me,  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  salutary  aspects' 
presented  in  the  working  of  these  "school  improvement 
leagues,"  especially  in  the  rural  districts,  is  the  socializing 
and  elevating  influence  exerted  on  their  membership. 
The  churches  of  all  denominations  have  done,  and  are 
doing,  much  in  this  direction,  and  I  trust  and  believe  that 
they  will  continue  to  be  increasingly  useful  in  breaking 
down  social  barriers  by  the  dissemination  of  intelligence 
and  the  inculcation  of  righteousness.  In  the  "school  im- 
provement league,"  however,  a  new  sphere  of  social  ac- 
tivity is  opened — not  antagonistic,  but  helpful  to  the 
churches,  broader  in  its  area,  more  comprehensive  in  its 
constituency,  embracing  not  only  the  members  and  fami- 
lies of  one  church,  but  of  all  the  churches,  and  if  there  be 
such,  of  no  church,  banded  together  with  the  noble  pur- 
pose of  extending  and  promoting  the  intellectual ;  and  as 
a  corallary,  the  moral,  social,  economic  and  religious  wel- 
fare of  the  whole  community.  The  school-house  thus  be- 
comes, in  a  high  and  true  sense,  the  centre  of  communal 
life,  the  place  where  the  children  and  youth  are  taught, 
developed  and  fitted  for  active  duty  in  the  world,  where 
the  older  people  meet  together  for  conference  and  action 
on  these  important  interests,  and,  as  occasion  may  sug- 
gest, for  social,  intellectual  or  festive  enjoyment.  I  can 
think  of  nothing  more  humanizing,  elevating  and  benefi- 
cent in  its  operation  or  more  promising  in  its  results'. 

And  now,  as  to  the  specific  service  that  may  be  ren- 
dered by  the  individual  citizen  in  connection  with  the 
"school  improvement  league,"  it  seems  to  me  that 

(i)  One  important  thing  is  the  establishment  of  a 
good  understanding  and  concerted   action   between   the 


ii8  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

superintendent  and  trustees  of  schools  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  people  of  the  community  on  the  other.  There  are 
communities  where  such  relations  do  not  exist.  It  is  the 
fault  of  the  officials  in  some  cases  and  of  the  people  in 
others.  Wherever  the  blame  rests,  this  condition  ought 
to  be  looked  into  and  rectified.  Without  this,  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  schools  cannot  be  maintained :  with  it,  there 
is  good  ground  for  hope  of  progress  and  steady  advance. 
Any  citizen  of  firmness  and  good  sense  can  be  of  eminent 
service  in  such  a  contingency  in  rectifying  wrongs,  re- 
moving obstacles  and  stimulating  progress. 

(2)  Another  thing  that  may  be  greatly  advanced  by 
the  effort  of  patriotic  citizens  is  the  development  of  such 
an  estimate  of  the  worth  of  education  and  the  advantages 
which  flow  from  it  that  the  community  will  be  prevailed 
on  to  submit  to  such  "local  taxation"  as  may  be  necessary 
to  bring  up  the  schools  to  the  point  of  efficiency.  This 
desideratum  has  already  been  attained  in  some  of  the 
cities,  towns,  counties  and  districts,  but  few  have  reached 
the  point  that  needs  to  be  gained,  and  some  steadfastly 
refuse  to  do  anything.  Of  the  opponents,  some  are  men 
of  wealth,  while  others  possess'  small  means.  Now,  it  is 
easy  enough  to  denounce  these  voters  and  say  it  is  arrant 
selfishness  in  the  well-to-do  citizen  and  ignorant,  short- 
sightedness in  the  man  of  straightened  circumstances  to 
occupy  this  position,  but  we  will  never  make  converts  by 
such  a  course.  What  is  needed  under  these  conditions  is 
a  campaign  of  education,  the  diflfusion  of  information, 
the  display  of  rational  considerations,  the  awakening  of 
thought,  the  presentation  of  true  and  noble  motives"  to 
action.  One  of  the  severest  indictments  ever  brought  by 
the  Almighty  against  his  ancient  people  is,  "Israel  doth 
not  know:  my  people  doth  not  consider."    One  of  the 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  1 19 

most  refreshing  and  uplifting  sentences  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is,  "A  book  of  remembrance  was  opened  before  him 
(God)  for  them  that  feared  the  Lord  and  thought  upon 
his  name."  The  grand  distinguishing  characteristic  of 
man  is  the  power  of  thought.  The  original  meaning  of 
the  word  "man,"  in  the  old  sanskirt,  is  "to  think."  Man 
is  by  his  constitution  a  thinker.  "Reason,"  says  a  late 
writer,  "is  the  guide  of  the  soul."  All  our  other  powers 
are  dependent  on  it  for  direction.  When  a  man  thinks 
accurately  and  correctly  and  acts  on  his  thinking,  he  ful- 
fills' the  object  of  his  being.  When  he  fails  to  think,  he 
sins  against  his  own  nature  and  against  God.  Wonderful 
words  are  these  of  the  immortal  dramatist : 

"What  a  piece  of  work  is  man !  How  noble  in  reason ! 
How  infinite  in  faculty;  in  form  and  moving,  how  ex- 
press and  admirable !  in  action,  how  like  an  angel !  in 
apprehension,  how  like  a  god  I" 

The  Psalmist,  nearly  three  thousand  years  before 
Shakespeare,  speaks'  to  the  same  eflfect,  "Thou  hast  made 
him  (man)  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  and  hast  crowned 
him  with  glory  and  honor." 

All  that  is  great  and  glorious  in  human  achievement 
is  the  result  of  thought  embodied  in  action. 

And  yet  how  often  do  we  find  men  with  little  intel- 
lectual development,  no  power  of  consecutive  thought,  re- 
fusing to  look  at  more  than  one  side  of  a  question,  bound 
down  by  narrow  prejudice,  "cribbed,  cabinned  and  con- 
fined" within  the  compass  of  selfish  feeling.  But  when 
you  come  to  know  them,  they  are  often  well-meaning 
men,  just  in  their  dealings  and  kindly  in  their  expres- 
sions. They  do  a  neighbor  a  favor  or  a  friend  a  service, 
if  it  does  not  cost  too  much.  They  are  amenable  to  rea- 
son, when  they  can  be  gotten  to  listen  to  it. 


120  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

What  such  men  need  is  to  have  the  light  turned  in  on 
them ;  to  be  brought  to  see  things  as  they  are  and  not  as 
they  conceive  them  to  be;  to  have  the  scope  of  their 
vision  broadened,  to  be  awakened  to  reflection,  to  have 
high  and  holy  motives  set  before  them,  and  thus  to  be  led, 
kindly  and  persuasively,  to  change  their  position  and  to 
become  factors  for  good  in  the  community,  instead  of  an 
incubus  on  its  progress. 

I  am  persuaded  that  a  great  work  can  be  done  along 
this  line  by  the  members  of  the  School  Improvement 
League,  individually  and  in  co-operation,  and  that  in 
communities  where  such  effort  is  needed,  one  of  the  chief 
objects  of  the  association  ought  to  be,  to  convert  oppo- 
nents and  arouse  the  listless.  We  need  to  present  a  united 
front  and  to  bring  the  combined  influence  of  the  people  to 
bear  in  behalf  of  school  improvement  and  the  uplifting  of 
the  rising  generation.  One  of  the  most  difficult  things  with 
which  we  have  to  grapple  in  many  communities  is  to  gain 
the  consent  of  the  tax-payers  to  "local-taxation."  Until 
this  is  done,  little  advance  can  be  made.  When  it  has 
been  accomplished,  progress  will  be  assured,  although 
there  may  be  much  else  that  requires  attention.  Let  the 
thinking  men  and  women  of  the  Commonwealth  go  for- 
ward, undaunted  in  the  good  work,  and  the  victory  will 
be  won. 

(3)  Other  important  objects  to  which  the  School  Im- 
provement League  may  well  give  attention  are  the  con- 
solidation of  schools,  longer  school  terms,  competent 
teachers,  better  school-houses,  the  beautifying  of  school 
rooms  and  the  grounds  around  them ;  the  introduction  of 
manual  labor  teaching,  school  libraries,  etc.  I  have  time 
only  to  suggest  these  matters  for  your  consideration. 
They  are  all  important  and  ought  to  be  looked  after. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  121 

I  beg  now  to  express  the  profound  conviction  that  the 
future  of  our  grand  old  Commonwealth  is  largely  de- 
pendent on  the  movement  we  are  met  here  to-night  to 
foster  and  promote.  We  have  come  to  the  parting  of  the 
ways.  You  will  not  regard  me  as  disloyal  when  I  say 
that  Virginia  of  to-day  does  not  occupy  the  relative  posi- 
tion in  the  galaxy  of  States  once  accorded  her  by  univer- 
sal consent.  Other  Commonwealths  have  outstripped  her 
in  population,  in  wealth,  in  manufactures,  in  agriculture, 
in  commerce,  in  the  development  of  natural  resources,  in 
political  prestige,  in  moral  force  and  influence,  and,  be- 
yond all,  and  in  part  at  least,  explanatory  of  all,  in  educa- 
tion. 

While  it  is  true  that  our  State  University  and  other 
institutions  of  higher  learning,  male  and  female,  are  do- 
ing a  noble  work,  and  that  some  of  our  public  schools  of 
all  grades,  from  the  primary  to  the  high  school,  are  meet- 
ing the  requirements  of  their  position  under  the  condi- 
tions' that  surround  them,  it  is  also  true  that  a  burden  of 
ignorance  rests  on  the  State  that  is  at  once  appalling  and 
destructive.  More  than  one-fifth  of  our  population  over 
ten  years  of  age  are  illiterates.  According  to  the  latest 
published  statistics  from  our  State  Board  of  Education, 
it  appears  that  forty-six  per  cent,  (nearly  one-half)  of 
the  children  and  youth  of  school  age  do  not  attend  school, 
and  that  of  the  whites,  forty  per  cent,  are  non-attendants. 
Of  those  who  go  to  school,  nine-tenths'  drop  out  before 
they  reach  the  high  school.  Many  of  our  school  houses 
are  wholly  unfit  for  the  culture  and  elevation  of  beings 
endowed  with  immortal  minds.  Many  of  our  teachers, 
while  doing  the  best  they  can  with  their  equipment,  have 
had  no  opportunity  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  work 
in  which  they  are  engaged. 


122  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

This  condition  of  things  does  not  exist  exclusively  in 
any  one  section  of  the  State,  but  more  or  less'  in  all  parts. 
Is  it  to  continue  or  shall  it  be  rectified?  If  improvement 
is  to  be  brought  about,  how  is  it  to  be  accomplished  ?  The 
provisions  of  our  State  Constitution  are  adequate.  Our 
laws  are  what  they  should  be,  or,  if  not,  they  can  be  made 
so  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature.  We  have  a  full 
corps  of  school  officials  and  have  had  them  for  many 
years.  And  yet  something  is  lacking,  and  that  something 
is  the  cheerful,  hearty,  persistent  interest  and  concur- 
rence of  the  rank  and  file  of  our  citizenship.  The  work 
rests,  my  friends,  on  you  and  me.  Let  us  and  our  fellow- 
citizens  throughout  our  borders  be  true  to  our  vocation, 
and  the  old  State  will  arise  and  resume  her  place  among 
the  advanced  forces'  of  our  civilization. 

One  more  thought  and  I  am  done:  You  have  heard 
the  preachers  of  all  denominations,  and  not  only  the 
preachers,  but  the  officers  and  members  of  all  the 
churches,  say  that  religion  is  the  principal  thing  which 
lies  back  of  progress;  that  Christianity  is  the  indispen- 
sable factor  in  the  regeneration  of  mankind,  and  that  in 
order  to  bring  about  the  abatement  of  vice,  the  growth  of 
virtue,  the  purification  and  elevation  of  society  and  the 
greatness  of  a  people,  there  must  be  the  adoption  and 
practice  of  the  principles  inculcated  in  the  Bible.  You 
have  heard  them  speak  thus.  I  have  heard  them.  I  have 
spoken  this  way  myself,  and  I  am  not  here  to-night  to 
recant  my  well-settled  convictions,  or  to  contravert  the 
intelligent  opinions  of  my  brethren,  but  I  want  to  ask 
each  one  of  you,  and  all  of  you  together,  whether  you 
have  not  heard  and  do  you  not  believe  it  to  be  true,  that 
"education  is  the  handmaid  of  religion,"  that  educated, 
enlightened  people  are  more  apt  to  be  moral,  useful  and 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  123 

Christian  than  ignorant  and  untaught  people;  that  one 
great  demand  of  Christianity  is  that  those  who  embrace 
it  shall  be  lights  in  the  world  and  helpers  of  others  in 
their  development  and  preparation  for  usefulness  ?  These 
things  belong  to  the  very  rudiments  of  thought  and  the 
religious  life,  and  it  seems  to  me,  lay  a  heavy  responsibil- 
ity on  each  and  every  one  of  us,  and  specially  on  those 
who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians,  to  rally  to  the 
standard  now  erected  in  behalf  of  a  broader  and  deeper 
education  for  the  children  and  youth,  of  the  enlighten- 
ment of  the  masses'  of  our  people  and  of  a  higher,  nobler, 
purer  and  more  affective  and  effective  civilization  among 
all  classes  of  our  citizens.  Virginia  will  then  become  a 
beacon-light  to  the  land,  to  the  world  and  to  posterity. 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SCHOOL. 

I  appear  before  you,  brethren,  as  a  substitute  for  the 
brother  on  whom  this  duty  was  originally  devolved, 
other  important  engagements  demanding  his  attention  at 
this  time.  The  subject  assigned  me,  "The  Family  and 
the  School,"  is  complex,  though  its  elements  stand  closely 
related  and  interdependent.  E^ch  is  or  ought  to  be  of 
deep  significance  to  every  thoughtful  mind.  Indeed,  I  can 
think  of  nothing,  after  an  abiding  concern  for  our  per- 
sonal relation  to  Christ  and  the  unremitted  exemplifica- 
tion of  his  teaching,  that  deserves,  and  ought  to  receive, 
more  of  our  thought  and  effort. 

I  regret  that  the  subject  allotted  is  so  large  and  the 
time  allowed  for  its  discussion  so  brief,  that  my  remarks 
must  necessarily  be  fragmentary  and  somewhat  discon- 
nected. Nevertheless,  it  may  be,  that  I  shall  be  able,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  to  focus  your  attention  on  some  of 
its  prominent  features,  so  that  your  relations  and  obliga- 
tions to  these  fundamental  institutions  shall  be  more  fully 
realized  and  your  lives'  be  enriched  and  made  more  fruit- 
ful than  heretofore.  If  so,  I  shall  thank  God  and  take 
courage.  The  word  "family"  or  "families"  is  found  many 
scores  of  times  in  the  Old  Testament  scriptures,  and  gen- 
erally in  the  sense  in  which  we  receive  it,  and  but  once  in 
the  New  Testament,  and  then  with  a  larger  meaning  than 
that  in  which  we  shall  treat  it.  The  word  "school"  does 
not  occur  in  the  Old,  and  only  once  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  then  with  a  significance  not  relative  to  our  sub- 
ject. A  discussion  of  these  scriptural  terms  would  not 
be  materially  helpful,  as  we  accept  and  shall  treat  them. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  125 

as  they  are  already  understood  and  used  in  popular  inter- 
course, 

A  well-known  and  trustworthy  contemporary,  Dr. 
Carroll  D.  Wright,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor, 
has  described  the  family  as  "a  crucial  social  unit,"  "the 
keystone  of  society,"  for  it  results,  from  that  happy  asso- 
ciation of  the  sexes  by  which  the  human  species  is  per- 
petuated and  extended,  by  which  the  affections  are  de- 
veloped, and  by  which  the  interest  which  compels  one 
unit  to  preserve  and  cherish  another,  is  fostered. 

Another  distinguished  author.  Dr.  Noah  K.  Davis,  of 
the  University  of  Virginia,  in  treating  of  the  family,  says, 
"The  relations  are  generally  sufficient  for  the  unfolding 
of  the  domestic  virtues,  the  building  of  character  and  the 
enjoyment  of  home  life.  .  .By  its  primacy  it  stands 
as  the  unit  of  society  and  the  State." 

Another  writer  of  world-wide  reputation,  the  late  Dr. 
Henry  Calderwood,  of  the  University  of  Edinburg, 
speaking  from  a  higher  standpoint  and  in  a  yet  loftier 
strain,  says :  "As  the  family  is  the  primary  unit  in  society, 
moral  law  applies  directly  within  its  constitution  in  a 
manner  analogous  to  that  in  which  moral  law  applies 
within  personal  life.  Governing  and  working  power  be- 
long to  it  as  to  the  individual  life  and  the  play  of  feeling, 
affection  and  emotion,  belongs  to  it  as  a  unity,  in  closest 
analogy  with  all  that  is  characteristic  of  a  single  life.  The 
relations  of  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  children, 
brothers  and  sisters,  constitute  a  true  unity,  in  the  moral 
significance  of  which  it  becomes  apparent  how  strong  and 
how  great  is  this  central  though  smallest  type  of  the 
social  organization.  This  unity  belongs  to  the  very  struc- 
ture of  nature,  which  we  seek  to  account  for  when  we 


ia<5  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

raise    the    all-embracing   problem  of  the  universe  as  a 
whole. 

"The  unity  of  the  family  is  founded  on  biological  and 
ethical  laws  conjointly,  for  both  apply  throughout  family 
life  just  as  in  individual  life.  Here  lies  the  provision  for 
order,  purity,  government  and  harmonious  activity.  In 
constitution  of  the  family,  the  marriage  bond  is  presup- 
posed as  the  essential  condition  of  social  life,  and  this 
constitution  is  sustained  by  recognized  application  of 
moral  law  equally  to  both  sexes.  The  obligation  to  phy- 
sical, intellectual  and  moral  purity  is  the  same  for  all,  and 
family  life  becomes  the  watchful  guardian  of  social 
purity.  The  law  of  purity  applies  to  man  as  to  woman — 
to  woman  as  to  man — with  no  trace  in  reason  for  making 
the  slightest  difference  in  our  judgments'.  There  is  noth- 
ing more  clearly  destitute  of  moral  or  rational  warrant 
than  the  opinion  which  would  distribute  on  a  different 
scale  the  condemnation  of  social  vice. 

"All  the  relative  duties  of  the  social  life  grow  from  the 
applications  of  universal  law  to  the  relations  existing  in 
accordance  with  the  bonds  which  nature  has  ordained. 
The  fact  that  moral  law  bears  equally  on  all  is  the  se- 
curity for  a  sustained  unity.  Thus',  if  moral  relations  be 
studied  as  represented  in  family  life,  it  will  be  seen  how 
difficulties  are  to  be  met,  and  how  increased  strength  and 
vitality  of  social  life  are  to  be  secured,  by  special  recogni- 
tion of  the  duties  and  inalienable  rights  of  each  personal- 
ity, taken  with  the  claims  which  these  give  on  others.  For 
it  is  when  we  look  steadfastly  at  those  difficulties  which 
spring  from  the  entire  dependence  of  the  young  on  paren- 
tal authority  (or  on  authority  regarded  as  its  equivalent) 
that  we  see  how  dependence  and  independence  are  to  be 
harmonized.     It  is  because  parents  are  subject  to  moral 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  127 

law  exactly  as  children  are,  that  we  find  provision  for 
defence  of  the  weak,  not  merely  in  the  affections,  but  in 
the  duties  of  the  strong.  Moral  law  thus  carries  a  guide 
to  all  organization  on  a  more  extended  scale,  which  must 
be  in  large  degree  voluntary,  and  must  involve  the  rival 
claims'  of  the  weak  and  the  strong.  In  every  family  the 
father  and  mother  have  in  their  own  hands  the  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  concerned  in  the  government  of 
communities  and  nations.  There  is  no  more  striking  ex- 
ample of  dependence  than  appears  in  the  life  of  children, 
and  there  is  no  case  in  which  the  acknowledgment  of  per- 
sonal rights  seems  more  difficult,  as  a  duty  to  be  persist- 
ently fulfilled.  It  is  comparatively  easy  to  insist  on  abso- 
lute submission,  but  it  is  a  quite  serious  difficulty  in  the 
circumstances,  to  make  full  account  of  the  claims  of  per- 
sonality, testifying  without  stint  to  the  reality  that  moral 
law  controls  those  in  authority  as  well  as  thos'e  who  are 
subject." 

I  have  chosen  to  give  you  the  fundamental  principles 
which  underlie  and  explain  the  structure,  functions  and 
obligations  of  the  family  as  the  teaching  of  approved 
scientists  and  thinkers  rather  than  in  my  own  language : 
(i)  Because  I  feel  sure  this  method  will  convey  more 
briefly  and  lucidly  the  important  thoughts  thus'  presented, 
and  (2)  because  the  authority  of  men  of  accredited  intel- 
lectual power  and  discrimination  carries  along  with  their 
utterance  a  force,  valuable  and  useful  in  itself,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  instruction  they  impart.  You  have  in  the  para- 
graphs just  quoted  the  highest  results  of  scientific  investi- 
gations and  philosophic  thought.  The  principles  an- 
nounced appeal  to  your  candid  consideration  and  impar- 
tial judgment.  If  they  are  true,  they  ought  to  be  accepted, 
adopted  and  lived  up  to. 


128  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Are  they  not  true  ?  Let  us  see.  I  ask  every  one  pres- 
ent to  follow  me  with  close  attention,  to  give  heed  to  the 
voice  of  your  own  consciousness  that  you  may  discover 
for  yourselves  whether  the  truths  now  set  before  you  are 
not  immediately,  directly  and  intuitively  given  and 
whether  you  are  not  bound  to  receive  them  as  absolute 
truth  about  which  there  is  no  doubt.  I  ask,  then,  is  it  not 
true  that  the  family,  such  as  those  to  which  you  and  I 
belong,  is'  "the  crucial  social  unit,"  "the  keystone  of  so- 
ciety," the  fundamental  "unit  of  society  and  the  State"? 
In  other  words,  can  there  be  any  society  or  State  without 
families  out  of  which  they  proceed,  and  is  not  the  char- 
acter of  society  and  the  State  dependent  on  the  character 
of  the  families  that  compose  them  for  the  complexion 
they  take?  If  family  life  is  marked  by  purity,  temper- 
ance, justice  and  benevolence,  will  not  social  life  be 
radiant  with  these  virtues  and  will  not  the  citizens  of  the 
State  carry  into  their  dealings  with  one  another,  and  with 
the  State  itself  the  attributes  of  kindness,  integrity,  truth 
and  the  observance  of  obligation?  In  fine,  are  not  fami- 
lies like  little  fountains  from  which  issue  rivulets,  some 
sweet,  some  bitter,  which  coalesce  and  form  the  great 
stream  of  social,  civic  and  political  life? 

Again,  is  it  not  true  that  the  family  as  the  primary 
unit  in  society  is  amenable  to  moral  law ;  that  every  mem- 
ber of  the  household,  whether  husband  or  wife,  parent  or 
child,  brother  or  sister,  is'  equally  bound  by  it;  that  its 
observance  or  non-observance  determines  the  character 
of  the  family  life  for  good  or  evil ;  that  as  every  member 
has  rights,  so  each  owes  correlative  duties,  and  that  under 
these  conditions,  the  family  is  the  place  for  the  unfolding 
of  domestic  virtues,  the  building  of  character  and  the 
enjoyment  of  home-life"? 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  129 

It  seems  to  me  that  these  are  self-evident  truths,  and 
beyond  the  pale  of  contradiction.  If  so,  then  from  every 
point  of  view — national,  social,  political,  patriotic  and 
philanthropic — we  ought  to  cherish  and  purify  and  elevate 
our  home  life,  make  it  the  scene  of  our  dearest  joys  and 
purest  happiness,  and  protect  it,  so  far  as  in  us  lies,  from 
the  intrusion  of  every  sordid,  impure  and  corrupting 
thought  and  influence. 

It  may  be  said  in  deprecation  that  the  argument  now 
adduced  proceeds  wholly  from  a  temporal  point  of  view, 
appealing  wholly  to  the  humanitarian  side  of  life  and 
overlooks  the  aspirations  of  the  soul  after  a  higher  and 
better — even  an  eternal  life. 

To  this  objection,  I  reply  that  in  a  sense  the  criticism 
is  just,  but  that  if  the  domestic  circle  is  such  a  sacred 
place,  when  the  demands  of  our  earthly  life  alone  are 
considered,  it  ought  to  be  guarded  and  cultured  and  im- 
proved with  constant  assiduity  and  endeavor  by  men  of 
every  creed  and  of  no  creed ;  much  more  does  it  behoove 
those  who  acknowledge  "one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism, one  God  and  father  of  all" ;  who  bow  down  before 
the  one  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  with  adoring 
gratitude,  and  look  up  to  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise  by 
whom  they  are  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemption,  to  give 
heed  to  these  truths  and  adjust  their  lives  in  accord 
therewith. 

I  beg  also  to  suggest  that  the  moral  law,  of  which  we 
have  been  speaking,  found  as  a  human  characteristic  in 
every  clime  and  every  age,  is  the  law  of  God ;  that  it  re- 
sides'  and  presides  in  every  human  breast,  written  there, 
according  to  the  teaching  of  the  great  apostle,  by  God 
himself ;  that  its  mandates  coincide  with  those  of  the  law 
given  on  Sinai,  and  that  it  is  a  sin  against  our  own  nature 


130  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

and  against  Almighty  God  to  do  anything  which  does  not 
measure  up  to  this  standard  or  to  fail  to  do  anything  in 
accord  therewith,  so  far  as  it  is  in  our  power  to  do  it.  It 
is  our  duty,  as  the  professed  disciples  of  Christ,  not  only 
to  obey  the  explicit  commands  of  God's  Holy  Word,  but 
to  give  heed  to  the  monitions  of  conscience,  and  in  every- 
thing under  all  circumstances  to  do  that  which  is  right 
and  true  and  good  and  to  put  behind  us  every  false  and 
deceitful  thing.  And  applying  this  principle  to  our  family 
life,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  there  rests  on  us  an  imper- 
ative obligation  to  consecrate  it  to  the  service  of  God  and 
to  make  the  most  of  it,  not  only  for  the  good  of  society 
and  the  State,  but  in  view  of  those  eternal  interests, 
which  are  involved  in  all  others,  but  which  transcend  all 
others  in  grandeur  and  worth  as  the  heavens  are  high 
above  the  earth. 

Did  time  permit,  I  should  be  glad  to  say  something  as 
to  the  duty  and  privilege  of  aiding  to  bring  the  happiness, 
comfort  and  elevating  influence  of  home  life  into  families 
now  destitute  of  its  joys,  but  I  must  content  myself  with 
this  bare  reference,  leaving  the  matter  to  your  prayerful 
consideration,  while  I  pass  on  to  speak  a  little  while  about 
"the  school,"  including  the  private  and  the  public  school,'' 
the  primary,  grammar  and  high  school  grades,  the  acad- 
emy, the  college  and  the  university,  where  children  and 
youth  are  taught  and  trained,  and  where  they  are  pre- 
pared by  studied  methods  and  varying  stages  for  the 
duties  and  avocations  of  life. 

I  do  not  think  it  is  claiming  too  much  to  say  that  next 
to  the  family  and  the  church,  and  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  family  is,  or  ought  to  be,  an  integral  part  of  the 
church,  the  most  important  factor  in  forming  the  char- 
acter and  training  the  young  for  high  and  noble  useful- 
ness is  the  school. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  131 

It  has  been  truthfully  and  beautifully  said  that  "edu- 
cation commences  at  the  mother's  knee,  and  every  word 
spoken  within  the  hearsay  of  little  children  tends  to  the 
formation  of  character,"  but  it  cannot  and  ought  not  to 
end  there.  It  ought  to  be  progressive  and  as  extensive 
as  conditions  admit. 

Dr.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  already  quoted,  says :  "Educa- 
tion is  a  mark  of  civilization.  Wherever  in  the  history  of 
the  world  tribes,  communities.  States  or  nations  have 
made  any  advance,  they  have  provided  in  some  way  for 
the  education  of  either  a  part  or  the  whole  of  the  popula- 
tion." The  desirableness — may  I  not  say  the  necessity — 
of  this  is'  better  understood  to-day  than  ever  before,  so 
that  in  most  civilized  countries  provision  is  made  to  some 
extent  for  the  education  of  the  masses  of  the  people,  and 
in  many  to  a  large  extent.  The  United  States  is  not  be- 
hind any  other  country  in  its  efforts  in  this  direction. 
According  to  the  report  of  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  for  1899- 1900,  there  were  22,253,050 
persons  of  school  age.  Of  these,  15,341,230  were  enrolled 
in  public  schools,  exclusive  of  kindergartens,  colleges  and 
universities. 

"The  percentage  of  the  population  enrolled  in  public 
and  other  schools  is  higher  in  the  United  States  than  in 
any  other  country  of  the  world.   The  percentage  is  23.3." 

According  to  the  Virginia  school  report  for  the  year 
i902-'3,  there  were  8,965  schools  opened  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Commonwealth,  with  an  enrollment  of 
375,601  pupils.  In  the  city  of  Richmond  there  were  272 
schools  opened,  with  a  school  population  of  24,937,  of 
whom  12,203  were  enrolled  in  the  public  schools. 

I  give  you  these  statistics,  the  magnitude  of  which 
may  well  arrest  your  attention,  but  cannot  dwell  on  them 


132  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

for  the  want  of  time.  They  indicate  that  much  is  being 
done,  and  that  much  more  needs  to  be  done,  and,  above 
all,  they  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  every  citizen  and  the 
religious  sentiment  of  every  Christian.  Are  these  schools 
what  they  ought  to  be  ?  They  are  powerful  agencies  for 
good  or  evil.  What  kind  of  education  are  they  giving? 
What  kind  of  influence  are  they  exerting  ?  Are  the  teach- 
ers professionally  competent?  What  is  their  moral  atti- 
tude and  example?  Are  the  surroundings  of  the  pupils 
sanitary,  refining,  elevating,  inspiring?  What  improve- 
ments can  be  made,  promotive  of  the  physical,  intellect- 
ual, moral  and  religious  welfare  of  the  young  people? 
What  can  be  done  to  get  the  thousands  who  forsake  the 
schools  to  attend  them?  Whose  duty  is  it  to  look  after 
these  things? 

I  think  I  hear  you  say,  The  school  officials  and  teach- 
ers have  these  matters  in  charge  and  on  them  the  respon- 
sibility rests,  and  you  say  truly,  But  it  is  also  true  that 
the  school  officials  and  teachers  can  do  little  without  the 
sympathy,  co-operation  and  support  of  the  people.  There 
is  something,  therefore,  for  every  good  citizen — male  and 
female — and  specially  for  every  good  Christian  to  do  in 
the  improvement  and  upbuilding  and  utilization  of  the 
schools  of  the  land  in  furthering  the  interests  of  society, 
in  conserving  the  purity  and  integrity  of  family  life 
through  their  influence  on  the  children,  in  bringing  out 
into  the  world  men  and  women  of  high  moral  character, 
prepared  to  grapple  with  its  problems,  to  do  its  work,  to 
stand  courageously  for  what  is  true  and  right,  and  in 
their  turn  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  progressive  ad- 
vancement of  coming  generations. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  exercise  of  simple  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesub'  Christ,  and  the  consecration  of  all  we 


I 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  133 

have  and  are  to  his  service,  I  do  not  know  of  any  sphere 
of  activity  in  which  we  may  do  more  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  upbuilding  of  his'  church  in  the  world  than  by 
constant  and  persistent  effort  to  hallow  and  exalt  family 
life  and  to  make  the  schools  of  our  land  fountains  of  in- 
tellectual, moral  and  spiritual  power. 

"Finally,  brethren,  whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatso- 
ever things  are  honest,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  what- 
soever things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely, 
whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report:  if  there  be  any 
virtue  and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things ;" 
let  them  adorn  your  lives,  give  them  effect  in  your  homes, 
let  them  irradicate  your  intercourse  with  your  fellowmen, 
bring  them  to  bear,  so  far  as  you  can,  on  the  children  and 
youth  of  the  land  and  the  world,  and  "the  God  of  peace 
shall  be  with  you,"  for  in  blessing  others,  you  yourselves 
shall  be  blessed. 


MATTHEW   FONTAINE    MAURY. 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

IN  preparing  a  sketch  of  the  distinguished  gentle- 
man, whom  I  am  to  present  to  you,  I  have  had  ac- 
cess to  six  or  eight  of  the  latest  European  and  American 
encyclopaedias  and  to  his  biography,  written  by  his 
daughter,  Mrs'  Diana  Fontaine  Maury  Corbin,  aided  by 
his  nephew.  General  Dabney  H.  Maury,  C.  S.  A.  From 
the  former,  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  not  a  single  fact 
or  incident  except  in  the  most  meagre  form.  The  latter, 
so  far  as  I  am  able  to  learn,  contains  the  only  authentic 
account  of  his  life,  and  while  it  is  far  from  being  all  we 
could  wish,  either  in  fullness  or  completeness,  it  contains 
much  valuable  information,  and  is  an  interesting  and  valu- 
able book.  My  plan  has'  been  to  go  through  this  work  witli 
care,  selecting  pivotal  incidents  and  events,  as  far  as  prac- 
cable,  in  chronological  order  and  clothed  very  largely  in 
the  language  of  the  author.  In  this  way  I  am  able  to  give 
you  a  more  interesting  account  of  the  man  and  to  set  him 
before  you  more  in  his  true  and  simple  greatness,  than  if 
I  allowed  myself  larger  latitude. 

In  the  galaxy  of  her  distinguished  sons,  whom  intelli- 
gent Virginians  delight  to  honor,  Matthew  Fontaine 
Maury  stands  in  the  front  rank.  He  was  of  Huguenot 
ancestry  through  the  Maurys  and  Fontaines,  who  arrived 
in  Virginia  in  1714.  On  his  mothers  side  he  was  a  de- 
scendant of  Dudas  Minor,  who  received  a  land  grant 
from  Charles"  II.  in  1665.  No  more  honored,  patriotic 
and   useful   citizens   have  dwelt  in  our  Commonwealth 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  135 

than  those  belonging  to  these  families,  the  members  of 
which  arc  now  widely  scattered  throughout  the  United 
States. 

In  1790,  Richard  Maury,  father  of  our  hero,  married 
Diana,  daughter  of  Major  John  Minor,  of  Caroline 
county,  and  settled  in  Spottsylvania  county,  where  their 
fourth  son,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  bom  in  1806. 
When  Matthew  was  in  his  fifth  year  his  father  emigrated 
with  his  family  and  settled  in  middle  Tennessee,  about 
eighteen  miles  north  of  Nashville,  where  the  boy  assisted 
his  father  and  brothers  in  farm  work.  He  was  brought 
up  to  work,  to  obey  and  to  regular  religious  observance. 
He  obtained  elementary  education  in  the  old-field  schools 
of  that  period  and  region,  and  having  fallen  from  a  high 
tree  when  in  his  twelfth  year  and  been  so  injured  that  his 
father  thought  he  would  never  be  fit  for  farm  labor,  he 
was  allowed  to  enter  Harpeth  Academy  nearby,  where  he 
became  a  diligent  and  successful  student. 

His  brother,  John  Minor  Maury,  entered  the  navy  as 
midshipman  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  after  most  stir- 
ring adventures,  rose  to  be  first  lieutenant  of  a  frigate 
and  flag  captain  of  a  fleet.  He  died  of  yellow  fever  at 
sea,  leaving  two  sons,  one  of  whom  became  Major-Gen- 
eral  Dabney  Herndon  Maury,  C.  S.  A. 

In  1825,  Hon.  Sam  Houston,  then  member  of  Con- 
gress from  Tennessee,  obtained  for  M.  F.  Maury  a  mid- 
shipman's' warrant  in  the  navy.  His  father,  however, 
having  lost  one  son  at  sea,  did  not  approve  his  acceptance 
of  this  position,  and  refused  his  consent,  his  assistance 
and  even  his  parting  blessing.  Nevertheless,  Matthew 
determined  to  enter  this'  profession,  and  with  a  horse  pur- 
chased on  credit,  and  with  thirty  dollars,  paid  him  as  as- 
sistant in  a  school,  he  started  on  his  journey,  reaching  his 
relatives  in  Virginia  with  fifty  cents  in  his"  pocket. 


136  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

His  biographer  mentions  three  incidents  of  interest 
connected  with  this  trip :  ( i )  Arrived  among  his  Minor 
kin  in  Albemarle,  a  special  entertainment  was  accorded 
him.  When  the  ice  cream  was  handed  him  first  as  the 
honored  guest,  having  never  seen  any  before,  he  aston- 
ished the  negro  waiter  and  tried  the  good  manners  of  the 
company  by  transferring  a  teaspoon  fill  of  the  unknown 
sauce  to  his  own  plate  and  sending  on  the  rest.  (2)  "While 
at  his  uncle's  house  in  Fredericksburg,  he  met  for  the  first 
time  his  little  cousin,  Ann  Herndon,  twelve  or  thirteen 
years  old,  to  whom  he  was  married  nine  years  later  in 
1834.  (3)  At  Fredericksburg,  he  sold  his  horse  for  the 
price  he  agreed  to  pay  for  him,  and  immediately  for- 
warded the  money  to  the  gentleman  in  Tennessee  from 
whom  he  was  purchased. 

At  the  period  of  Maury's  entering  the  navy  (1825) 
there  was  no  naval  academy,  and  the  young  midshipman 
had  to  acquire  his  nautical  education  on  shipboard.  Bear- 
ing on  this  state  of  things,  I  will  be  pardoned  for  giving 
a  brief  account  of  my  only  personal  contact  with  this  re- 
markable man.  It  occurred  at  the  close  of  the  session  of 
i853-'4  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  when  he  made  the 
annual  commencement  address  to  the  students.  I  remem- 
ber well  his  appearance,  his  massive  brow,  his  kindly  ex- 
pression, his  gentle  manner,  his  impressive  bearing,  and 
I  recall  his  opening  words,  not  given  in  the  extract 
printed  in  his  biography.  They  were  somewhat  as  fol- 
lows: "Young  gentlemen,  it  is'  the  custom  in  the  navy, 
when  a  young  man  enters  as  midshipman,  for  him  to  seek 
the  guidance  and  assistance  of  some  older  and  more  ex- 
perienced seaman  to  help  him  acquire  the  knowledge 
necessary  to  enable  him  to  fill  the  important  position  to 
which  he  aspires,  and  as  you  are   about  to  leave   your 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  137 

alma  mater  and  venture  on  the  voyage  of  life,  I  have 
come,  having  gained  some  experience  of  the  sea,  to  give 
you  some  simple  saiHng  directions,  which  may  help  you 
the  better  to  prepare  to  meet  the  breakers  and  to  shun  the 
rocks  and  quicksands  which  beset  your  path."  He  then 
went  on  in  a  most  instructive  way  to  draw  from  his  per- 
sonal experience  important  lessons  which  I  am  sure  have 
been  of  much  practical  value  to  many  who  heard  him.  I 
find  on  reading  his  life,  that  his  address  was'  a  transcript 
from  his  personal  mode  of  action,  when  fitting  himself 
for  the  great  duties  he  afterwards  performed.  His  biog- 
rapher says,  that  after  he  entered  the  navy,  it  soon  be- 
came evident  that  he  had  resolved  to  master  the  theory 
and  practice  of  his  profession,  and  was  steadily  pursuing 
that  object,  regardless  of  difficulties  and  obstacles.  Active 
and  observant,  he  merited  and  obtained  a  reputation  for 
strict  attention  to  the  various  details  of  duty  and  conse- 
quently was  often  selected  for  special  service. 

During  the  first  year  of  his'  service,  he  visited  the 
coast  of  England  on  the  frigate  Brandywine,  which  con- 
veyed the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  to  France,  by  whom  he 
was  kindly  noticed.  On  his  return  to  the  United  States 
he  was  transferred  to  the  "Vincennes,"  which  was  fortu- 
nate in  that  his  accommodations  were  much  better  and 
more  favorable  to  study,  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  voyage, 
he  was  able  to  stand  and  pass  his  examinations',  though 
not  at  all  distinguished  in  them. 

In  1 83 1,  six  years  after  he  entered  the  navy,  he  was 
appointed  master  of  the  sloop-of-war  "Falmouth,"' 
ordered  to  the  Pacific  coast,  in  which  he  had  a  room  to 
himself  and  pursued  his  studies  with  ardor.  He  had  the 
Bible  and  Shakespeare  at  his  fingers'  end  and  made  him- 
self master  of  much  other  good  literature     Tt  was  on  the 


138  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

voyage  to  Rio  de  Janeiro,  en  route  to  the  Pacific,  that  he 
conceived  the  idea  of  the  celebrated  "wind  and  current 
charts,"  which  have  done  so  much  for  commerce  and 
made  his  name  famous  throughout  the  world.  Before 
leaving  New  York  he  had  searched  for  reliable  informa- 
tion about  winds  and  currents,  but  obtained  none.  It  was 
also  on  this  voyage  that  he  observed  and  studied  the  phe- 
nomena of  "the  low  barometer"  off  Cape  Horn,  and 
wrote  his  first  scientific  paper  for  publication,  which 
afterwards  appeared  in  the  American  Journal  of  Science. 
He  also  began  at  this  time  to  prepare  a  work  on  "Naviga- 
tion," the  material  of  which  he  had  been  gathering  for 
some  time.  From  the  "Falmouth"  he  was  transferred  to 
the  schooner  "Dolphin,"  on  which  he  performed  the 
duties  of  first  lieutenant,  until  he  joined  the  frigate 
"Potomac,"  in  which  he  returned  to  the  United  States  in 
1834,  when  he  married,  as  heretofore  stated,  his  fee  to 
the  minister  being  the  last  ten  dollars  he  possessed.  Soon 
after  marriage,  he  put  his'  work  on  "Navigation"  to  press. 
After  the  appearance  of  this  volume,  he  was  assigned  to 
duty  in  making  surveys  of  southern  harbors.  After  being 
engaged  thus  for  more  than  a  year  he  obtained  a  few 
weeks  leave  of  absence  to  visit  his  parents  in  Tennessee, 
whom  he  wished  to  bring  with  him  to  reside  with  his 
family  in  Virginia.  On  his'  way  back,  having  given  his 
seat  on  the  inside  to  a  poor  woman,  who  could  not  stand 
the  exposure  of  the  cold  air  at  night,  he  was  thrown  from 
the  top  of  the  stage  coach  and  seriously  injured.  This 
accident  injuriously  aflfected  his  prospects  in  the  navy, 
but  soon  after  his  return  to  Fredericksburg  a  series  of 
anonymous  articles'  from  his  pen  on  nautical  subjects,  en- 
titled "Scraps  from  the  Lucky  Bag,"  having  appeared  in 
The  Southern  Literary  Messenger  (Richmond)  and  their 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  139 

authorship  having  become  known,  great  attention  was 
awakened  not  only  by  the  discussions,  but  in  regard  to 
their  author.  So  deep  was  the  impression  that  the 
National  Intelligencer  (Washington)  and  other  journals 
urged  his  appointment  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

In  these  papers  he  urged  the  adoption  of  "steam  as  a 
motive  power  in  navigation,"  and  proclaimed  "a  new  era 
in  naval  warfare,"  that  of  big  guns  and  small  ships.  He 
also  in  the  same  year  (1839)  called  attention  to  "the 
great  sailing  circle"  as  a  means  of  shortening  the  distance 
between  Europe  and  America.  He  also  wrote  on  "Direct 
Trade  in  Southern  Bottoms,"  and  advised  that  "a  navy- 
yard  and  fort"  should  be  established  at  Memphis'  and 
Pensacola."  In  1843,  he  wrote  a  further  article  on 
"building  a  dock  and  navy-yard  and  school  of  instruc- 
tion" at  Memphis,  which  was  done,  and  for  which  he  de- 
serves credit.  In  June  of  the  same  year,  he  read  a  paper 
on  "The  Use  of  Blank  Charts  on  Board  of  Public  Cruis- 
ers" before  the  National  Institute,  and  in  July  before  the 
"President  and  Corps  Diplomatique";  a  much-talked  of 
paper,  entitled  "The  Gulf  Stream  and  Its  Causes."  In 
another  "Scrap,"  he  urged  the  establishment  of  forts, 
arsenals  and  a  ship  canal  from  Illinois  river  to  Lake 
Michigan  to  connect  with  Memphis  navy-yard  and  to 
transport  ships  to  and  fro  in  time  of  war."  When  it  be- 
came known  that  Maury  was  the  author  of  the  "Scraps 
from  the  Lucky  Bag,"  his  ability  was  universally  ac- 
knowledged and  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the  "Depot  of 
Charts  and  Instruments,"  which  he  developed  into  "the 
National  Observatory  and  Hydrographical  Department 
of  the  United  States." 

When  Maury  distributed  his  "charts  and  sailing  direc- 
tions," they  were  not  much  regarded  at  first,  but  Captain 


I40  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Jackson,  of  Baltimore,  having  followed  them  in  a  voyage 
from  the  United  States  to  Rio,  he  made  the  voyage  out 
and  back  in  the  time  often  consumed  in  the  outward  voy- 
age alone.  An  active  interest  was  now  excited  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  he  gained  intelligent  and  zealous 
friends  and  assistants  everywhere.  To  show  the  accuracy 
and  benificence  of  Maury's  work,  the  case  of  two  ships 
which  left  New  York  abreast  and  reached  San  Fran- 
cisco the  same  day  is  cited.  The  fame  of  his  "wind  and 
current  charts  and  sailing  directions"  rang  round  the 
world.  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine  of  May,  1854,  esti- 
mates the  annual  saving  to  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States  on  the  outer  voyage  to  be  at  least  $2,250,000,  not 
estimating  the  return  trip  or  the  saving  in  wreckage  of 
vessels'  and  human  lives. 

The  value  of  this  system  having  been  demonstrated, 
the  sympathy  and  assistance  of  European  nations  were 
now  invoked  and  readily  accorded.  Secretary  Dobbin,  of 
the  navy,  gave  it  as  his  conviction  in  a  letter  to  Senator 
Mallory,  that  "this  officer  (Maury)  has  not  only  added 
to  the  honor  of  his  country,  but  saved  millions  of  dollars 
to  his'  countrymen."  It  was  while  analyzing  and  tabu- 
lating millions  of  observations,  that  Maury  wrote  "The 
Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea  and  Its  Meteorology," 
which  Humboldt  pronounced  "one  of  the  most  charming 
and  instructive  books  in  the  English  language."  Upwards 
of  twenty  editions  of  this  book  were  sold  in  England,  to 
say  nothing  of  America  and  the  continent,  and  it  was 
translated  into  French,  Dutch,  Swedish,  Spanish  and 
Italian.  In  1853,  "^  congress'  of  nations,"  chiefly  inter- 
ested in  commerce — England,  Russia,  Belgium,  France, 
Holland,  Sweden  and  Norway,  Denmark,  Portugal  and 
the  United  States  (with  Maury  as  representative)  assem- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  141 

bled  at  Brussels  for  the  further  development  of  meteor- 
ological research,  applicable  to  land  as  to  the  sea.  In 
1857,  Baron  Von  Humboldt,  at  the  age  of  ninety,  wrote 
Maury :  "It  belongs  to  me  more  than  to  any  other  travel- 
ler of  the  age  to  congratulate  my  illustrious  friend  upon 
the  course  he  has  so  gloriously  opened."  In  1880,  Senator 
Vest,  of  Missouri,  said  in  a  speech  before  the  Forty-sixth 
Congress  of  the  United  States :  "The  whole  signal  service 
of  this  country  originated  with  the  navy,  not  with  the 
army.  The  man  who  commenced  it,  in  whose  brain  it 
first  had  existence,  was  M.  F.  Maury.  .  .  This  same 
man  by  his  system  of  research  upon  the  ocean  .  .  . 
saved  to  the  commerce  of  the  world  from  $40,000,000  to 
$60,000,000  annually."  The  Weather  Bureau  system  of 
this  and  other  countries  proceeded  from  his  brain,  though 
he  has  received  no  credit  for  it. 

It  was  Maury,  also,  who  instituted  deep-sea  sound- 
ings, who  prophesied  the  existence  of  a  telegraphic  pla- 
teau at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  between  America  and 
Europe ;  who  discovered  and  suggested  the  place  for  the 
Atlantic  cable  and  the  kind  and  size  of  wire  to  be  used. 

At  a  dinner  in  New  York  to  celebrate  the  arrival  of 
the  first  message  across  the  Atlantic,  when  called  on  to 
give  an  account  of  the  work,  Dr.  Cyrus  W.  Field  arose 
and  said:  "I  am  a  man  of  few  words:  Maury  furnished 
the  brains,  England  the  money  and  I  did  the  work."  Yet 
these  services  were  unrequitted  and  are,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  unknown.  Admiral  Fitz  Roy,  an  eminent  savant 
of  the  British  navy,  said  of  him,  "One  of  his  most  distin- 
guished characteristics  was  disinterestedness.  .  .  His 
sole  object  was  to  benefit  mankind  at  large." 

I  must  take  a  moment  to  call  attention  to  the  most  un- 
gracious act  of  a  naval  retiring  board  appointed  by  au- 


142  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

thority  of  Congress  to  retire  inefficient  naval  officers.  It 
was  simply  a  recommendation  that  M.  F.  Maury,  along 
with  others,  be  dropped  from  the  list.  Equally  marvellous 
is  the  fact  that  the  recommendation  was  adopted,  and 
Maury  found  himself  shivering  out  in  the  cold.  The 
country  was  indignant  and  the  press  throughout  its  length 
and  breadth  rose  up,  almost  as  one  man,  and  demanded 
not  only  his  reinstatement,  but  his  promotion.  I  am  sorry 
to  say  that  Senators  Davis  of  Mississippi  and  Mallory  of 
Florida  (one  afterwards  President  of  the  Confederate 
States  and  the  other  his  Secretary  of  the  Navy)  were, 
apparently,  both  before  and  during  the  war,  opposed  to 
Maury.  Nevertheless  the  will  of  the  people  prevailed 
over  narrow-mindedness,  and  Maury  was  restored  and 
promoted. 

About  this  time  he  received  an  autograph  letter  from 
the  Grand  Duke  Constantine,  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Russian  navy,  in  which  the  following  sentences  occur :  "I 
must  confine  myself  to  the  expression  of  my  sentiments. 
They  are  as  exalted  as  are  your  own  merits;  and  in  my 
official  capacity,  I  may  say  to  you  that  you  do  honor  to 
the  profession  to  which  you  belong,  as  well  as  to  the 
great  nation  which  you  have  the  honor  to  serve." 

Maury  continued  to  write  on  a  great  variety  of  sub- 
jects, "Light-Houses  on  the  Florida  and  Gulf  Coasts," 
"Systematic  Observations  on  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Mississippi  River,"  "The  Defence  of  the  Lakes  and  the 
West,"  "Drowned  Lands  Along  the  Mississippi,"  "Steam 
Navigation  to  China,"  "A  Ship  Canal  and  Railroad 
Across  the  Isthmus  to  the  Pacific,"  "On  the  Commercial 
Prospects  of  the  South,"  "On  the  Valley  of  the  Amazon," 
"Our  relations'  with  England,"  etc.,  all  of  which  have 
borne  fruit,  though  some  of  them  tardily. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  143 

About  this  time,  his  "chart"  was  published,  "with  two 
lanes  laid  down,  each  twenty-five  miles  broad,  for  the  use 
of  steamers  in  going  and  returning  across  the  Atlantic,  so 
that  they  might  avoid  collision."  In  speaking  of  this  dis- 
covery, the  Montgomery  (Ala.)  Advertiser  and  Gazette 
said:  "We  agree  with  Professor  De  Bow's  view,  that 
Lieutenant  Maury  is  certainly  entitled  to  the  rank  of  one 
of  the  greatest  benefactors  of  the  age."  The  London 
Times,  at  a  later  date,  speaking  of  the  loss  of  the  "Ville 
du  Harve,"  remarked,  "If  she  had  followed  Maury's 
steam  lanes,  this  terrible  loss  of  ship  and  life  would  have 
been  avoided."  So  impressed  were  the  merchants  and  un- 
derwriters of  New  York  with  their  value  that  they  pre- 
sented him  $5,000  and  a  handsome  silver  service. 

Maury  was  a  stout  man,  about  five  feet  six  inches  in 
height;  he  had  a  fresh,  ruddy  complexion  and  clear  ten- 
der blue  eyes.  In  later  life,  he  was  quite  bald.  His  coun- 
tenance bespoke  intellect,  kindliness  and  force  of  charac- 
ter. In  manners  he  was  most  affable  and  courteous:  in 
conversation,  he  was  always  evolving  great  ideas — as  Mr. 
Calhoun  said  of  him :  "He  was  a  man  of  great  thoughts." 
He  made  loving  companions  of  his  children,  invited  their 
confidence  and  freely  gave  them  his.  Yet  his  word  was 
law,  and  that  no  one  ever  dreamed  of  disputing.  His 
dear  wife — his  "darling  Annie" — was  the  idol  of  his 
heart.  Like  few  great  men,  he  was  greater  the  closer  one 
got  to  him.  He  never  had  a  study  or  anything  like  a  sanc- 
tum, where  his  wife  and  children  could  not  come.  He  sat 
in  the  midst  of  his  family,  with  papers  spread  out  before 
him,  unconscious  of  what  was  going  on.  He  taught  his 
children  at  the  breakfast  table  and  for  an  hour  or  two 
after.  Their  mother  taught  their  Bible  lesson  and  cate- 
chism and  the  girls  had  regular  tasks  in  mending  and 


144  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

darning.  The  family  could  attend  only  Sunday  morning 
service  because  of  the  distance  between  their  home  and 
church,  but  Maury  conducted  evening  service  at  home, 
which  was  read  verse  about,  "the  stranger  that  was 
within  the  gates^'  generally  taking  part. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  productions  of  this  re- 
markable man  is  a  letter,  published  in  the  Southern 
Churchman,  in  the  year  1855,  on  the  relation  of  "the 
Bible  and  Science,"  in  which  he  exhibits  not  only  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  text,  but  most  intelligent  comprehen- 
sion of  its  meaning.  He  was  a  devout  believer  in  the 
authenticity  and  inspiration  of  the  sacred  scriptures.  In 
i860  he  delivered  the  address  at  the  laying  of  the  comer- 
stone  of  the  University  of  the  South,  at  Sewanee,  Tenn., 
in  which  the  following  sentences  occur:  "Physical  geog- 
raphy makes  the  whole  world  kin.  Of  all  the  depart- 
ments in  the  domains  of  physical  science,  it  is  the  most 
christianizing.  .  .  Astronomy  ignores  the  existence  of 
man:  physical  geography  confesses  that  existence  and  is 
based  on  the  Bible  doctrine  that  the  earth  was  made  for 
man."  "Upon  no  other  theory  can  it  be  studied :  upon  no 
other  theory  can  its  phenomena  be  reconciled!  .  .  I 
have  been  blamed  by  men  of  science  .  .  .  for  quoting 
the  Bible  in  confirmation  of  the  doctrines  of  physical 
geography.  The  Bible,  they  say,  was  not  written  for 
scientific  purposes,  and  is,  therefore,  of  no  authority  in 
matters  of  science.  I  beg  pardon.  The  Bible  is  authority 
for  everything  it  touches.  .  .  When  I,  a  pioneer  in 
one  department  of  this  beautiful  science,  discover  the 
truths  of  revelation  and  the  truths  of  science  reflecting 
light  on  one  another,  how  can  I,  as  a  truth-loving,  knowl- 
edge-seeking man,  fail  to  point  out  the  beauty  and  rejoice 
in  the  discovery." 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  145 

In  the  year  1858,  Lieutenant  Maury  delivered  an  ex- 
tensive series  of  lectures  in  cities  of  the  North  and  West 
on  "The  Atlantic  Telegraph,"  "The  Highways  and  By- 
ways of  the  Sea,"  "A  System  of  Meteorological  Observa- 
tions'," "The  Workshops  and  Harmonies  of  the  Sea,"  etc. 
Of  these  lectures,  the  Cleveland  (O.)  Plaindealer  says: 
"They  have  all  the  thrilling  interest  of  romance,  all  the 
charming  simplicity  of  narrative,  and  yet  the  grandest 
and  most  sublime  principles  of  science  are  grappled  with 
and  discussed  with  the  erudition  and  ability  of  a  master 
mind." 

But  now  the  prospect  of  a  great  calamity  was  darken- 
ing the  land.  Maury  made  earnest  efforts'  to  avert  war, 
maintain  peace  and  insure  to  the  South  her  equal  rights 
in  the  Union.  He  addressed  earnest  appeals  to  the  Gov- 
ernors of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Maryland  and  Dela- 
ware to  stand  in  the  breach  and  stop  this  fratricidal  strife. 
It  was  too  late.  President  Lincoln  called  on  Virginia  for 
troops  to  subjugate  the  seceding  States,  Virginia  replied 
by  casting  her  lot  with  her  seceding  sisters.  Maury  re- 
signed and  took  his  stand  with  his  native  State.  No 
sooner  was  his  resignation  known  in  Europe  than  most 
flattering  offers  from  Russia  and  France  were  conveyed 
to  him  in  Richmond  by  the  Russian  and  French  ministers, 
accompanied  by  the  Prussian  Envoy,  who  came,  they 
said,  "to  pay  their  respects  and  make  their  adieus  to  the 
philosopher  and  man  of  science,  who  had  given  up  all, 
everything  he  had  save  honor,  at  the  call  of  his  native 
State  in  her  trouble." 

Maury,  while  gratefully  appreciating  and  acknowledg- 
ing these  honorable  proffers,  as  graciously  declined  them, 
because  his  allegiance  and  service  belonged  to  Virginia. 

In  writing  to  a  friend  about  this'  time,  he  says :  "The 


146  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

President  refuses  to  accept  my  resignation.  The  object 
of  this  will  be  plain  enough  to  you.  But  in  such  a  case, 
the  halter  has  no  more  terror  than  the  bullet.  Death  is 
death.    Our  cause  is  just." 

On  the  loth  day  of  June,  1861,  Maury  was  appointed 
by  the  Confederate  Government  chief  of  the  Seascoast, 
Harbor  and  River  defences  of  the  South.  In  his  post  he 
assisted  in  fitting  out  the  "Virginia"  for  her  short,  but 
destructive  career.  He  also  invented  a  formidable  tor- 
pedo to  be  used  both  for  harbor  and  land  defence,  besides 
contributing  in  other  ways  to  the  protection  of  the  South- 
ern seaboard.  Torpedo  warfare  was  reintroduced  to  the 
world  by  our  Civil  War,  and  it  was  the  practical  mind 
of  Maury  which  appreciated  its  power  and  developed  its 
efficiency.  In  the  summer  of  1862,  after  overcoming 
many  difficulties,  Maury  proceeded  to  mine  the  James 
river  below  its  fortifications,  and  it  was  this  that  s'aved 
Richmond  from  capture  at  a  much  earlier  date. 

While  engaged  in  this  work,  without  having  been  con- 
sulted and  strongly  against  his  wishes,  he  received  an 
order  to  go  to  Europe  to  purchase  torpedo  material,  a 
duty  that  might  have  been  performed  by  any  junior  offi- 
cer. It  is  probable  that  we  here  again  see  the  hand  of 
President  Davis  and  his  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  loss  to  the  Confederacy  by  his 
removal  was  irreparable  and,  may  be,  fatal. 

The  first  and  second  years  of  the  war  Maury  wrote  a 
series  of  papers,  published  in  the  Richmond  Enquirer^ 
urging  the  government  to  build  a  navy  without  delay  and 
showed  that  it  was  practicable. 

In  October,  1862,  he  sailed  from  Charleston,  S.  C, 
and  arrived  safely  in  England,  where  he  remained  during 
the  war.    While  there  he  assisted  in  organizing  a  society 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  I4;r 

"for  the  promotion  of  the  cessation  of  hostiHties  in  Amer- 
ica," and  "a  petition  for  peace  in  America"  was  sent  by 
"the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland"  to  "the  people  of  the  United  States,"  but  it  ac- 
complished nothing.  "The  great  American  Hydrogra- 
pher,"  however,  met  with  much  sympathy  and  kindness. 
His  valuable  labors  and  books  had  secured  him  a  host 
of  friends.  During  his  stay  in  England  he  spent  his  time 
in  perfecting  his  discoveries  and  in  the  conduct  of  experi- 
ments connected  with  torpedo  warfare. 

On  May  2,  1865,  under  orders  from  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  of  the  Confederate  States,  he  sailed  from 
Southampton,  and  on  arrival  at  St.  Thomas,  West  Indies, 
received  the  crushing  intelligence  of  the  fall  of  the  Con- 
federacy and  the  murder  of  President  Lincoln.  He  now 
felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  his  stricken 
State,  and  determined  to  surrender  his  sword,  which  he 
did  to  the  United  States  officer  commanding  the  Gulf 
squadron,"  accompanied  with  a  letter,  the  first  paragraph 
of  which  is  as  follows :  "In  peace  as  in  war,  I  follow  the 
fortunes  of  my  old  native  State,  Virginia.  I  read  in  the 
public  prints  that  she  has  practically  confessed  defeat  and 
laid  down  her  arms.  In  that  act,  mine  were  grounded 
also."  He  was  strenuously  advised  not  to  return  to  the 
United  States,  as  "vengeance  against  the  leaders"  was 
openly  proclaimed.  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  at  that 
time  United  States  Minister  to  England,  said  to  a  friend 
of  Maury's,  "All  his  friends  should  advise  him  not  to  go 
back  to  the  United  States  yet.  The  feeling  there  is  bitter 
against  him,  and  I  believe  that  a  step  of  that  kind  on  his 
part  at  this  time  would  be  unfortunate  for  him." 

Maury  was'  left  at  Havana  without  a  country  or  a 
home,  and  far  from  friends  whom  he  could  consult.     He 


148  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

had  always  felt  a  warm  regard  for  the  Archduke  Maxi- 
milian, and  when  that  unfortunate  prince  undertook  the 
regeneration  of  Mexico,  Maury  offered  his  services  and 
arrived  in  Mexico  in  June,  1865.  He  was  welcomed  by 
the  Emperor  and  Empress,  and  was  offered  a  place  in  the 
ministry,  which  he  declined,  but  accepted  the  position  of 
"Director  of  the  Imperial  Observatory." 

Maury  now  formed  a  grand  scheme  for  the  coloniza- 
tion of  a  New  Virginia  in  Mexico,  which  was  cordially 
adopted  by  the  Emperor,  who  appointed  him  "Imperial 
Commissioner  for  Colonization,"  and  concurred  with  him 
in  measures'  to  make  the  plan  effective. 

The  course  pursued  by  Maury  in  entering  the  service 
of  Mexico  did  not  receive  the  approval  of  his  friends 
either  in  Europe  or  America.  Commodore  Jansen,  of  the 
Netherlands  Navy,  General  R.  E.  Lee  and  others  wrote, 
dissuading  him  from  the  enterprise.  He,  however, 
thought  that  he  was  right,  and,  from  indications,  would 
perhaps,  have  done  much  for  the  upbuilding  of  Mexico, 
but  for  the  unhappy  and  prohibitive  state  of  things  which 
existed. 

Maury  now  got  leave  of  absence  to  join  his'  family  in 
England  and  not  long  after  his  arrival  received  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  MaximiHan: 
"My  Dear  Councillor  Maury : 

"It  was  with  pride  that  I  heard  of  the  scientific  tri- 
umph just  achieved  and  due  to  your  illustrious  labors. 
The  trans-Atlantic  cable,  while  uniting  both  hemispheres, 
will  continualy  recall  to  their  minds  the  debt  of  gratitude 
they  owe  your  genius.  I  congratulate  you  with  all  my 
heart,  and  I  am  pleased  at  announcing  to  you  that  I  have 
appointed  you  Grand  Cross  of  the  Order  of  Guadaloupe. 

"Receive  the  assurance  of  the  good  wishes  of  your  af- 
fectionate, "Maximilian." 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  149 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  the  tragic  death  of 
Maximilian  was  announced  to  the  world. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  made  Maury  "Knight  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Ann";  the  King  of  Denmark  "Knight  of 
Dannebrog" ;  the  King  of  Portugal  "Knight  of  the  Tower 
and  Sword" ;  the  King  of  Belgium  "Knight  of  the  Order 
of  St.  Leopold" ;  the  Emperor  of  France  "Commander  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor,"  while  Prussia,  Austria,  Sweden, 
Holland,  Bremen  and  France  struck  gold  medals  in  his 
honor.  The  Pope  also  forwarded  a  complete  set  of  all 
the  medals  which  had  been  struck  during  his  pontificate, 
as  a  mark  of  his  appreciation  of  Maury's  service  in  the 
cause  of  science.  His  services  were  also  recognized  by 
numerous  learned  societies  at  home  and  abroad. 

Maury  lost  all  his  property  in  the  States,  and  the  fail- 
ure of  a  bank  caused  him  the  further  loss  of  all  the 
money  brought  from  Mexico.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in 
England,  however,  "a  Maury  testimonial,"  promoted  by 
his  friends'.  Commodore  Jansen  and  Rev.  Dr.  Tremlett, 
consisting  of  three  thousand  guineas  in  a  silver  casket, 
was  presented  to  him  at  a  banquet  presided  over  by  Sir 
John  Parkington,  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  surround- 
ed by  representatives  of  nearly  all  European  governments 
and  distinguished  officers  of  their  armies  and  navies'. 
General  Beauregard,  C.  S.  A.,  was  also  present. 

Maury  now  set  to  work  with  his  electrical  torpedo, 
and  was  in  Paris  for  a  time,  where  he  was  employed  by 
the  government  of  Napoleon  HL  The  french  authorities 
were  delighted.  At  St.  Cloud,  the  Emperor  himself  made 
the  circuit  and  exploded  a  torpedo,  and  Maury  was  in- 
vited to  become  a  Frenchman  and  accept  service  under 
Napoleon. 

On  his  return  to  London,  he  opened  a  school  of  in- 


ISO  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

struction  in  electric  torpedoes,  which  was  attended  by 
Swedish,  Dutch  and  other  officers.  For  this  work,  he  was 
amply  remunerated  by  the  governments  whose  officers 
were  under  his  instruction.  He  was  also  fully  occupied 
in  the  preparation  of  a  series  of  geographical  text-books. 

Although  Maury  had  always  been  a  devout  Christian, 
it  was  not  until  this  year  (1867)  that  he  became  a  regular 
member  of  the  church.  He  was  confirmed  by  Bishop 
Quintard,  of  Tennessee,  then  in  London,  at  Dr.  Trem- 
lett's  church,  in  Belsize  Park. 

In  1868,  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  was  conferred  on  him 
by  Cambridge  University,  in  recognition  of  his  literary 
and  scientific  merits,  and  of  his  eminent  services  to  man- 
kind. Alfred  Tennyson  and  Max  Miiller  received  the  de- 
gree at  the  same  time.  This  same  year,  the  political  ob- 
jections to  Maury's  return  to  the  United  States'  were  re- 
moved by  the  proclamation  of  general  amnesty.  He  had 
been  offered  the  "Directorship  of  the  Imperial  Observa- 
tory" by  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  and  the  superintend- 
ency  of  the  University  of  the  South  at  Sewanee,  but  he 
declined  both.  He  had  accepted  the  Chair  of  Physics  at 
the  Virginia  Military  Institute,  arrived  in  the  United 
States  in  July,  1868,  and  was  duly  installed  in  his  profes- 
sorship the  following  September,  but  his  residence  not  be- 
ing ready  for  occupancy,  he  did  not  enter  on  his  duties 
till  the  next  year.  He,  then,  set  himself  busily  to  work  in 
the  instruction  of  his  classes  along  lines  which  had  inter- 
ested hin.1  during  his  whole  life.  He  was  invited  to  make 
addresses  in  Alabama,  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Massachu- 
setts and  Missouri.  In  May  and  October,  187 1,  he  de- 
livered a  notable  address  on  "The  Development  of  the 
Agricultural  Bureau  at  Washington,"  as  a  means  of  help- 
ing the  farmers  and  increasing  the  wealth  of  the  country, 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  151 

which  called  forth  enthusiastic  action,  invoking  the 
United  States  Government  to  grant  these  reforms  and  im- 
provements. At  the  National  Agricultural  Congress  at 
St.  Louis  in  1872,  he  strongly  urged  the  importance  of  an 
"international  conference"  between  the  leading  agricul- 
turists and  meteorologists  of  all  countries. 

His  health  gave  way  under  the  fatigue  and  exposure 
of  this  last  trip  and  about  the  middle  of  October,  he  re- 
turned home.  As  he  crossed  the  threshold,  he  exclaimed 
to  his  wife,  "My  dear,  I  am  come  home  to  die!"  After 
four  months  of  patient  suffering,  borne  with  pious  resig- 
nation, he  entered  into  rest,  February  i,  1873,  his  last 
words  being  "All's'  well." 

His  life  was  a  consecrated  one — consecrated  to  God. 
to  duty  and  to  the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  mankind. 
He  was  wholly  unselfish.  He  was  at  once  a  patriot  and  a 
philanthropist ;  a  man  of  the  highest  personal  honor  and 
of  unimpeachable  integrity.    His   distinguishing  mental 
characteristics  from  his  youth  were  the  power  of  cloic 
observation,  chastened  imagination  and  careful  generali- 
zation from  observed  facts.     On  his  early  cruises  as  a 
midshipman,  he  saw  things  and  saw  them  in  their  relation 
to  other  things,  and  drew  conclusions  from  what  he  saw, 
as  no  other  mariner  from  the  days  of  Noah  had  seen  and 
concluded.    He  was  a  man  not  only  of  intellect,  but  of  un- 
daunted courage  and  perennial  industry.    By  day  and  by 
night  he  was'  at  work ;  at  work  for  no  selfish  end,  but  for 
the  betterment  of  mankind.    His  motive  in  life  was  to  do 
somebody — everybody — good.     His   was   a   world-wide 
beneficence.     Beginning  at  home,  he  was  a  loving  and 
gracious  husband,  a  kind  and  solicitous  father,  a  loyal 
son  and  brother.    He  was  an  humble,  sincere  and  devout 
Christian,  taking  the  Bible  as  his  standard  and  conscience, 


152  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

enlightened  by  truth,  as  his  guide.  Having  enjoyed  nar- 
row educational  advantages  in  youth,  as  a  scientist  and 
literateur  he  became  the  peer  of  the  most  learned  savants 
of  his  time,  and  far  outstripped  the  vast  majority  of  the 
highly  educated  men  of  the  world.  He  was  a  man  of  gen- 
ius— of  that  kind  of  genius  alone  worth  having,  which, 
when  it  sees  a  thing,  takes  hold  of  it,  masters  it  and  turns 
it  to  account.  No  man  has  done  more  for  his  country  and 
the  world.  Few  have  accomplished  anything  like  so  much. 
His  name  is  known  and  honored  wherever  civilization  ex- 
tends. He  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  great  benefactors 
of  mankind.  His  mortal  remains  rest  in  Hollywood,  the 
cemetery  of  your  sister  city  near  by. 

When  I  think  of  this  remarkable  man,  sans  pcur  et 
sans  rcproche,  giving  his  life  for  the  welfare,  and  confer- 
ring benefits  of  untold  magnitude  and  unending  duration, 
on  his  country  and  the  world,  treated  with  ingratitude 
and  malevolence,  I  thank  God  that  there  is  an  assize  In 
the  future,  at  which  wrongs  will  be  righted  and  even- 
handed  justice  accorded  to  all. 


PRESIDENT    WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  Ladies 
and  Gentlemen: 

I  remember  distinctly  that  when  I  was  quite  a  youth 
I  heard  in  my  native  city  of  Petersburg,  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  death  of  a  distinguished  and  highly  honored 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  a  thrilling  discourse  by  an 
eloquent  minister  of  the  Gospel,  based  on  the  text,  "Cease 
ye  from  man,  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils,  for  wherein 
is  he  to  be  accounted  of." 

A  world-renowned  preacher,  when  called  to  declare 
the  will  of  God  to  man  before  the  court  of  France,  as  he 
rose  in  the  pulpit  of  Notre  Dame  and  looked  around  on 
royalty  in  all  its'  blazonry  of  splendor,  and  the  nobility  of 
the  kingdom,  its  lords  and  ladies,  and  pomp  and  circum- 
stance, stretched  out  before  him  in  glory  and  magnifi- 
cence, paused  and  seemed  lost  in  contemplation,  and  then 
began  a  discourse  which  has  survived  the  lapse  of  time, 
with  the  impressive  words,  "There  is  nothing  great  but 
God :  there  is  nothing  terrible,  but  judgment." 

As  we  are  gathered  here  to-day  at  a  time  when  men 
are  usually  engaged  in  secular  work ;  as  this  convention 
has  interrupted  its  ordinary  course  of  proceedings  and  by 
resolution  is  assembled  for  religious  worship ;  as  through- 
out our  common  country  our  fellow-citizens  have  for- 
saken their  accustomed  avocations  and  betaken  them- 
selves to  the  house  of  God  in  recognition  of  a  common 
sorrow  and  in  obeisance  to  the  Lord  of  Lords  and  the 
King  of  Kings,  it  behooves  us  to  bow  humbly  and  rever- 


154  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

ently  before  His  throne    and    acknowledge    Him    Lord 
of  all. 

Perhaps  never  in  the  history  of  mankind  has  there 
been  more  heart-felt  and  universal  grief  than  during  the 
past  days  preceding  and  following  the  death  of  the  hon- 
ored and  beloved  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Republic.  All 
parties,  all  creeds,  all  peoples  throughout  Christendom ; 
the  potentates  of  earth  in  common  with  those  who  fill 
humble  positions  in  society;  all,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  enemies  of  mankind,  sit  together  under  the  shadow 
of  a  common  grief  and  cry  out  to  God  for  help. 

To  me  this  fact  has  great  significance.  Not  only  does 
it  bear  witness  impressively,  as  nothing  else  could  do,  to 
the  noble  character  and  exalted  worth  and  illustrious  ser- 
vice of  our  lamented  dead,  but  over  and  above  and  be- 
yond this,  it  implies'  that  deep  down  in  the  constitution  of 
the  human  soul  there  are  noble  and  generous  instincts 
that  on  occasion  rise  superior  to  minor  differences  of 
opinion,  break  asunder  the  shackles  of  sect  and  party,  and 
assert  the  existence  within  us,  amid  all  the  weakness  and 
sinfulness  of  our  nature,  of  the  Divine  spark  of  justice 
and  truth  and  right  which  has  not  been  wholly  extin- 
guished. 

We  learn  from  classic  history  that  the  people  of  Rome 
were  wrought  up  to  the  point  of  frenzied  enthusiasm 
when  an  impassioned  orator  stood  before  them  and  cried 
out  in  their  hearing,  "Homo  sums  et  humani  nihil  a  mc 
alienum  puto"  ("I  am  a  man  and  I  deem  nothing  pertain- 
ing to  man  foreign  to  me")  ;  and  so  to-day  we  find  our- 
selves in  common  with  our  fellow-citizens  throughout 
this  broad  land  and  our  fellow-men  throughout  the  world, 
laying  our  tribute  of  reverential  homage  on  the  bier  of 
our  departed  chieftain,  acknowledging   his   virtues   and 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  155 

holding  him  up  as  an  example  of  all  that  is"  good  and 
great  in  American  citizenship  and  in  human  nature. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  this  is  well,  but  it  is  not 
all,  and  does  not  express  the  full  significance  of  this  occa- 
sion. If,  assembled  here,  we  content  ourselves  with  mag- 
nifying the  dead,  however  justly  and  truthfully,  and  fail 
to  gather  lessons  of  wisdom  and  grace  from  his  life  of 
consecration,  and  his  death  of  faith  and  hope,  we  have 
missed  the  crowning  lesson  of  the  sad  event  which  has 
brought  us  together,  and  are  engaged  in  a  heathen  rather 
than  a  Christian  service. 

There  are,  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  some  trite 
and  commonplace  instructions  to  be  drawn  from  the  mo- 
mentous crisis  through  which  we  are  passing,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances which  have  brought  it  about,  which  I  should 
fail  in  duty  did  I  omit  to  call  your  attention,  and  the  neg- 
lect of  which  would  leave  you  without  the  benefit  which 
ought  to  be  derived  from  this  solemn  service.  It  is  true 
that  these  lessons  are  not  infrequently  impressed  in  our 
experience  of  life  from  other  sources,  but  seldom,  per- 
haps, so  forcefully  and  imperiously  as  at  present.  We  do 
well,  therefore,  to  consider  carefully  and  lay  to  heart  to- 
day the  warnings,  the  admonitions,  the  instructions  which 
are  tided  in  upon  us  this  sad  hour.    . 

Bear  with  me,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  as  I 
stand  here  not  merely  as  one  of  your  number,  permitted 
to  voice  your  feelings  on  this  great  occasion,  but  also  as  a 
minister  of  Christ,  whose  duty  it  is  to  speak  the  truth  in 
His  name,  to  draw  from  the  Providential  dispensation 
which  rests  upon  us,  and  present,  as  best  I  can,  some  sim- 
ple lessons,  in  simple  language,  for  our  common  instruc- 
tion and  use.  Ah,  it  will  be  a  sad  thing  if  a  single  one  of 
us  passes  through  these  scenes  untaught  and  unblessed. 


156  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Let  us,  then,  one  and  all,  give  solemn  heed  to  the  voice  of 
God  as  he  speaks  to  us  to-day  and,  having  heard,  let  us 
determine  that  by  His  gracious  help,  we  will  live  up  to  the 
teachings  He  gives. 

Perhaps  the  most  obvious  and  universally  accepted 
lesson  which  has  been  borne  in  on  our  minds  by  the  sad 
series  of  events  through  which  we  have  passed  is  one  that 
has  already  been  alluded  to,  the  uncertainty  of  life — a 
lesson  learned,  indeed,  from  many  other  sources,  but, 
alas !  how  sadly  neglected !  We  know  that  man  is  born  to 
die;  we  know  that  death  may  meet  us  anywhere  and  at 
any  time,  and  yet  how  prone  we  are  to  put  the  thought 
away  from  us  and  to  go  heedlessly  on  in  reckless  indiffer- 
ence to  the  future.  Men  deem  all  men  mortal  but  them- 
selves. To-day  God  speaks  to  us  with  a  voice  loud  as 
the  thunder  of  the  skies  and  impressive  as'  the  grave  and 
eternity,  and  says :  "Go  to  now,  ye  that  say,  to-day  or  to- 
morrow we  will  go  into  such  a  city,  and  continue  there  a 
year,  and  buy  and  sell,  and  get  gain;  whereas  ye  know 
not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow.  For  what  is  your  life? 
It  is  even  a  vapour,  that  appeareth  for  a  little  time  and 
then  vanisheth  away.  For  that  ye  ought  to  say,  If  the 
Lord  will,  we  shall  live,  and  do  this,  or  that."  Our  be- 
loved chieftain,  who  a  few  days  ago  was  in  the  fulness 
of  manly  vigor,  with  the  prospect  of  prolonged  and  hon- 
ored usefulness,  now  lies  in  the  cold  embrace  of  death, 
and  from  his  voiceless  tenement  of  clay  comes  the  mes- 
sage: "Prepare  to  meet  thy  God."  "Let  every  day  be 
spent  in  His  fear  and  His  service." 

Another  lesson  which  comes'  to  us  to-day  from  the  life 
and  death  of  our  lamented  President  is  that  we  ought  to 
cultivate  and  cherish  a  spirit  of  broad  charity  and  hu- 
manity, of  kindness  and  forbearance  towards  our  fellow- 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  157 

men,  a  disposition  to  accord  to  our  fellow-citizens  of 
every  degree  what  rightfully  belongs  to  them,  while  at  the 
same  time  we  strenuously  assert  and  maintain  our  own 
rights,  inherited  and  justly  acquired.  If  there  is  an  in- 
struction which  comes  to  us  from  the  life  and  death  of 
William  McKinley,  the  honest  man,  the  exalted  patriot, 
the  illustrious  chieftain,  it  is  this. 

It  is  not  contended  that  at  the  beginning  or  during  the 
earlier  part  of  his  political  career  he  had  reached  tbis 
high  altitude.  Exalted  character  is  not  the  creation  of  a 
day,  nor  is  it  produced  by  leaps  and  bounds,  but  it  is  of 
gradual  formation  under  the  inspiration  of  noble  pr-n- 
ciples  and  high  ideals'.  It  presupposes  and  involves  man- 
ful struggle,  thoughtful  effort,  voluntary  self-sacrifice, 
large-heartedness  and  absolute  truthfulness.  You  cannot 
have  character  without  that.  Its  acquisition  is  slow  and 
gradual,  and  after  conquest  upon  conquest  only  is  finally 
complete,  and  when  complete  its  possessor  stands  before 
the  world  the  noblest  work  of  God,  the  ideal  of  humanity 
— the  only  perfect  exemplar  of  which  is  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  Mary,  the  Son  of  God.  And  perhaps 
at  the  time  of  his  death  he  whom  we  honor  to-day  had 
approached  as  near  this  point  as  any  living  man. 

It  is  told  of  Alexander  the  Great  that  when  he  was 
about  to  enter  on  the  conquest  of  the  East,  the  Philoso- 
pher, Aristotle,  the  instructor  of  his  youth,  made  bold  to 
advise  him  to  crush  out  the  alien  nations  that  lay  in  his 
path,  but  to  treat  with  leniency  the  Greek  peoples  with 
whom  he  should  meet;  to  which  the  conqueror,  wiser 
than  his  teacher,  made  the  noble  response :  "It  is  not  my 
mission  to  crush  and  to  destroy,  but  to  unite  and  reconcile 
the  nations  of  the  earth." 

Such  seems  to  have  been  the  spirit  of  our  departed 


158  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

hero  in  private  life  and  in  the  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  his  country,  and  under  this  patriotic  and  Chris- 
tian policy  he  did  much  to  bring  all  parts  of  our  hitherto 
disunited  country  to  the  indulgence  of  mutual  respect  and 
into  bonds  of  cordial  fraternity. 

Shall  his  generous  example  be  lost?  Shall  we  not 
cherish  and  honor  it,  and  in  our  private  and  public  rela- 
tions endeavor  to  come  up  to  this  high  ideal  ?  It  was  the 
great  Justinian  who  gave  to  the  world  the  following  defi- 
nition of  justice :  "Justitia  est  constans  et  perpetua  volun- 
tas cuiquc  suum  tribuendi"  ("Justice  is  the  constant  and 
perpetual  good-will  to  give  to  every  man  what  belongs  to 
him").  Hundreds  of  years  before  Justinian,  an  inspired 
prophet,  speaking  in  the  name  of  God,  had  said,  "He  h.^th 
shewed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good:  and  what  doth  the 
Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy 
and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God?"  Thus  we  have 
this  day  brought  to  our  ears  and  impressed  on  our  hearts 
the  same  important  lesson  from  four  very  diverse 
sources — from  the  life  and  death  of  one  of  the  noblest 
of  Americans ;  from  the  gracious  though  ephemeral  out- 
burst of  the  conqueror  of  the  world ;  from  the  pen  of  a 
renowned  Roman  jurist,  and  from  the  everlasting  Word 
of  the  everlasting  God.  Oh,  let  not  the  appeal  be  without 
effect  on  your  hearts  and  lives. 

The  only  other  lesson  which  I  shall  venture  to  bring 
to  your  attention  is  found  in  the  answer  to  the  inquiry, 
What  was  the  basic  principle  on  which,  as  a  foundation 
of  adamant,  the  reverent  and  upright  character  of  Wil- 
liam McKinley  rested  ?  What  is  the  adequate  explanation 
of  his  inflexible  justice,  his  broad-minded  charity,  his  un- 
deviating  adherence  to  what  he  thought  right,  his  pure- 
heartedness  and  devout  patriotism?     What  was'  it  that 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  i59 

made  him  the  man  that  he  was,  that  in  life  won  for  him 
the  affectionate  regard  and  confidence  of  those  who  knew 
him,  and  that  at  his  death  sent  coursing  throughout  our 
great  republic  and  all  around  the  world,  along  with  the 
thrill  of  horror  at  the  dastardly  act  which  laid  him  low, 
an  unbroken  wave  of  deepest  distress,  which  filled  all 
hearts  with  sadness  and  all  eyes  with  tears  ?  Has'  such  a 
spectacle  ever  been  beheld  before  in  the  history  of  the 
world  ?    Explain  it !    Make  reply  to  your  own  souls ! 

To  me  the  answer  is  evident.  I  have  not  far  to  go  to 
find  a  satisfying  explanation  of  what  he  was  while  living, 
and  of  what  he  is  to  his  countrymen  and  mankind,  now 
that  he  is  dead.  "He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of 
the  Most  High  shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Almighty."  He  drew  the  inspiration  of  his  life  from  con- 
verse with  the  throne  of  Heaven,  He  was  an  avowed  and 
honest  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  accepted 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  the 
guide  of  his  life.  Their  doctrines  were  the  sheet  anchor 
of  his  soul ;  their  commandments  were  a  lamp  to  his  feet. 
He  could  say  with  the  Psalmist,  "The  Lord  is  my  light 
and  my  salvation ;  whom  shall  I  fear  ?  The  Lord  is  the 
strength  of  my  life;  of  whom  shall  I  be  afraid?"  The 
teachings  and  example  of  Jesus  were  the  rule  of  his  con- 
duct, and  walking  in  the  ways  of  truth  and  holiness,  he 
went  by  degrees  from  strength  to  strength,  growing  in 
grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  his  God  and  Saviour ;  and 
in  the  practice  of  what  he  saw  to  be  true  and  right  and 
good,  he  became  the  man  that  he  was,  the  ruler  that  he 
was — the  saint  that  he  is. 

But  he  has  gone  from  us.  While  we  are  engaged  in 
this  service,  the  last  sad  tribute  of  respect  is  being  paid 


i6o  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

to  his  mortal  remains  as  they  are  being  consigned  to  the 
tomb  by  his  kinspeople  and  friends.  "Earth  to  earth,  dust 
to  dust,  ashes  to  ashes."  But,  oh,  what  a  precious  thought 
that  "to  be  absent  from  the  body  is  to  be  present  with  the 
Lord,"  for  says  the  seer,  "And  I  heard  a  voice  from 
heaven  saying  unto  me,  write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  which 
die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth;  yea,  saith  the  spirit, 
that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors  and  their  works  do 
follow  them." 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  in 
bringing  these  desultory  remarks'  to  a  close,  how  can  I 
better  repay  the  genial  kindness  that  I  have  received  at 
your  hands  since  we  have  been  assembled  here,  than  by 
indulging  and  expressing  the  fervent  wish  and  hope  that 
every  one  of  us  may  possess  like  precious  faith  with  Wil- 
liam McKinley,  and  that  by  the  aid  of  heavenly  grace,  we. 
may  be  enabled  to  fill  the  several  spheres'  of  activity 
allotted  to  us  so  wisely  and  well,  that  when  the  summons 
comes  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  innumerable  departed,  each 
shall  enjoy  the  confidence  and  regard  of  his  fellowmen, 
and  hear  the  welcome  plaudit,  "Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant." 


SUFFRAGE. 

Mr.  Chairman: 

WHILE  I  feel  sure  that  the  views  I  am  about  to 
present  will  meet  with  a  cordial  response  from 
many  members  of  the  convention  and  from  the  great 
mass  of  intelligent  citizens  of  Virginia,  I  fear  they  may 
arouse  the  antagonism  of  gentlemen  who  have  already 
declared  themselves  hostile  to  the  enactment  of  principles 
which  I  regard  essential  to  the  welfare  of  society  and  fun- 
damental to  the  moral,  educational  and  economic  progress 
of  the  Commonwealth. 

I  desire,  therefore,  at  the  beginning  of  my  remarks,  to 
assure  those  who  differ  with  me  that  the  views'  I  enter- 
tain have  been  arrived  at  after  large  observation,  careful 
investigation,  and  prolonged  and  profound  thought,  and 
to  invoke  their  candid,  patient  and  thoughtful  attention 
to  what  I  have  to  say. 

I  shall  endeavor  to  be  entirely  impersonal,  and  to  treat 
each  question  discussed  with  absolute  fairness.  If  I  err 
in  either  respect,  it  will  be  from  oversight,  and  not  with 
design.  I  have  no  object  in  appearing  before  you  but  the 
ascertainment  and  enforcement  of  truth,  and  to  aid  in  the 
wise  and  just  settlement  of  the  suffrage  question. 

I  do  not  stand  here,  Mr.  Chairman,  as  a  theorist,  but 
as  a  man  of  practical  affairs,  who  has  had  large  dealings 
with  his  fellow-men,  and  who  looks  with  a  keen  eye  at 
conditions  as  they  actually  exist,  and  with  an  earnest 
desire  to  see  them  improved. 


i62  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

It  will  readily  be  granted  by  every  member  of  the  con- 
vention that  the  purpose  which  has  brought  us  together  is 
to  frame  a  constitution  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Virginia — an  instrument  which,  when  completed 
and  adopted  as  the  organic  law  of  the  Commonwealth, 
shall  embody  those  seminal  principles  which  are  fitted  in 
their  effective  application  to  promote  the  welfare  of  every 
dweller  within  our  bounds,  and  to  restore  and  perpetuate 
the  honor  and  glory  of  the  old  State. 

It  will  also,  doubtless,  be  conceded,  that  in  order  to 
attain  this  high  object,  it  is  necessary  to  study  the  real 
conditions  existing;  not  in  any  one  locality  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  others ;  not  merely  with  reference  to  one  interest 
without  regard  to  others;  not  with  a  narrow  and  sec- 
tional intent,  but  with  a  broad,  enlightened  and  patriotic 
spirit,  infused  and  dominated  by  an  intense  and  supreme 
desire  for  the  rehabilitation  of  our  lost  fortunes,  the  re- 
establishment  of  our  ancient  renown,  and  the  placing  of 
the  old  Commonwealth  on  an  enduring  foundation  of  vir- 
tue, intelligence  and  economic  strength. 

Let  me  recall  your  attention,  Mr.  Chairman  and  gen- 
tlemen, to  the  fact  that  we  are  here  to  legislate  in  the  in- 
terests of  nearly  two  millions  of  people,  about  two-thirds 
of  whom  are  of  Anglo-Saxon  lineage,  the  remnant  being 
of  African  descent;  that  while,  with  inconsiderable  ex- 
ceptions, they  are  natives  of  the  soil  they  inhabit  and  in- 
heritors in  common  of  an  honorable  history,  they  diflfer 
widely  in  many  respects — some  dwelling  by  the  waters  of 
the  sea,  and  others  in  mountain  fastnesses ;  some  inhabit- 
ing cities  and  towns,  and  others'  the  rural  districts ;  some 
following  agricultural,  others  pastoral,  others  mechanical, 
others  mercantile,  others  professional  pursuits,  while  a 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  163 

large  portion  of  the  population  live  by  daily  bodily  toil. 
Some  are  educated  and  intelligent,  others  are  ignorant 
and  stupid;  some  are  cultured  and  refined,  others  are 
brutal  and  immoral ;  some  are  well-to-do,  a  few  wealthy, 
others  are  poor,  and  the  majority  possess  but  small  means. 

Here,  then,  we  have  briefly  and  imperfectly  the  prob- 
lem given  us  for  solution.  We  are  to  legislate  for  all 
these  classes,  and  to  meet  all  these  conditions,  in  such 
manner  that  every  citizen,  of  whatever  locality  or  circum- 
stance, may  not  only  receive  even-handed  justice,  but  find 
in  the  organic  law  of  his  State  and  the  civic  and  political 
arrangements  emanating  therefrom,  incentive  and  inspi- 
ration to  elevate  his  character,  enlarge  his'  view  of  life, 
and  improve  his  economic  and  social  status.  Any  lower 
apprehension  of  the  work  before  us  is  fatally  defective, 
and  destructive  of  the  great  end  to  be  attained.  Keeping 
steadily  in  view  these  high  and  noble  objects  in  the  con- 
struction of  every  portion  of  the  instrument  we  are  now 
framing,  we  will  present  to  the  people  of  Virginia  a  con- 
stitution adapted  to  their  needs,  and  which,  in  its  opera- 
tion, will  prove  a  benediction  to  all  parts  of  the  Common- 
wealth. 

It  will  readily  be  gathered  from  what  has'  now  been 
said  that  I  do  not  stand  here  as  an  advocate  of  any  par- 
ticular section,  or  of  any  sectional  restrictive  measures  in 
regard  to  suffrage.  Restriction  in  suffrage  is  demanded — 
imperatively  demanded — by  the  exigencies  of  the  situa- 
tion in  the  Southside,  from  which  I  come,  but  no  less  in 
Tidewater  and  the  Piedmont  region  and  the  Valley  and 
the  Southwest  and  Northern  Virginia.  The  need  is  uni- 
versal, not  only  in  the  country,  but  in  the  cities  and 
towns ;  not  only  among  the  blacks,  but  among  the  whites, 


i64  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

in  order  to  deliver  the  State  from  the  burden  of  illiteracy 
and  poverty  and  crime,  which  rests  on  it  as  a  deadening 
pall,  sapping  its  energies,  corrupting  the  sources  of  politi- 
cal and  social  vitality,  and  lowering  it  in  the  eyes  of  its 
own  people  no  less  than  in  the  view  of  those  who  are 
without. 

Since  the  assembling  of  this'  convention,  it  has  been 
acknowledged  again  and  again  by  gentlemen  from  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  State  that  politics  in  Virginia  are  cor- 
rupt ;  that  there  is  a  large  purchasable  element,  especially 
in  the  white  sections ;  that  voters  are  bought  and  sold ; 
and  that  generally  there  is  no  assurance  that  the  will  of 
the  electors  is  truly  expressed  by  the  election  returns.  In 
the  contested  election  case  lately  ventilated  before  this 
convention  you  have  an  object  lesson  of  how  things  are 
not  infrequently  managed,  not  only  in  this,  but  in  other 
sections  of  the  Commonwealth.  I  am  informed  that  in 
the  Ninth  Congressional  District  there  has  hardly  been  a 
national  election  in  twenty  years  in  which  large  fraud  has 
not  been  charged.  The  same  thing  is  perhaps  true,  or 
nearly  so,  in  the  Second  District,  the  Ninth  being  in  the 
extreme  western  and  the  Second  in  the  extreme  Eastern 
portion  of  the  State,  and  each  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
representing  the  condition  of  things  throughout  the  Com- 
monwealth. The  black  belt  has  no  monopoly  of  wicked- 
ness— political,  social  or  civic — ^but  it  prevails  more  or 
less  throughout  our  borders;  and  this  being  true,  the 
remedy  to  be  applied  must  be  adapted  to  meet  conditions 
and  bring  about  a  cure  wherever  the  evil  is'  found. 

Let  us  make  a  more  elaborate  and  thorough  diagnosis 
of  the  existing  state  of  things,  that,  understanding  the 
disease,  we  may  know  how  to  adapt  remedial  agencies. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  165 

I  suppose  that  there  is  scarcely  a  member  of  this  con- 
vention who  is  not  glad  that  it  holds  its  sittings'  in  our 
beautiful  capital,  the  city  of  Richmond,  of  which  we  are 
justly  proud;  and  as  we  meet  its  citizens  and  are  wel- 
comed into  their  hospitable  homes,  and  sit  with  them  in 
their  houses  of  worship,  and  visit  their  schools  and  col- 
leges, and  see  what  a  great  work  is'  being  done  in  educa- 
tion and  charity,  we  are  fain  to  exclaim :  "Surely  this  is 
the  abode  of  virtue,  of  intelligence,  of  religion" ;  and  so  it 
is,  seen  from  the  point  of  view  most  obvious  to  us ;  but 
let  it  be  noted  that  Richmond,  in  common  with  other 
cities,  has  another  and  a  darker  side;  not  only  a  horde 
of  ignorant  and  corrupt  negroes,  but  no  inconsiderable 
mass  of  depraved  and  vicious  whites.  Go  down  into  the 
lower  parts'  of  the  city,  and  you  will  behold  a  different 
spectacle  from  that  which  greets  our  eyes  in  our  usual 
perambulations,  for  there  you  will  behold  not  a  few  speci- 
mens of  our  white  fellow-citizens  that  will  awaken  at 
once  your  pity  and  disgust.  It  is  this  element  which  con- 
stitutes a  menace  to  society,  which,  under  the  manipula- 
tion of  corrupt  political  leaders,  constitutes  the  balance  of 
power  in  elections,  and  by  which  the  voice  of  intelligent 
and  upright  citizens'  is  stifled  at  the  polls,  and  incompe- 
tent and  bad  men  are  put  into  office.  It  is  not  the  negro 
vote  which  works  the  harm,  for  the  negroes  are  generally 
Republicans,  but  it  is  the  depraved  and  incompetent  men 
of  our  own  race,  who  have  nothing  at  stake  in  govern- 
ment, and  who  are  used  by  designing  politicians  to  accom- 
plish their  purposes,  irrespective  of  the  welfare  of  the 
community.  No  one,  therefore,  is  surprised  to  learn  that 
at  least  one  department  of  the  city  government  is  in  an 
equivocal  position ;  that  certain  of  its'  officials  have  been 


i66  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

accused  in  the  public  prints  of  receiving  bribes,  and  that 
some  of  its  thoughtful  and  leading  citizens  are  unwilling 
to  trust  its  people  with  the  poor  privilege  of  electing  their 
own  magistrates. 

But  Richmond  is  not  alone  in  this  condemnation.  The 
state  of  things  in  Norfolk  is  said  to  be  even  and  far 
worse,  so  that  the  city  is  now,  and  has  been  for  years, 
dominated  by  a  political  ring  or  rings,  which  have  con- 
tributed to  the  lawlessness  and  violence  of  the  population 
to  an  intolerable  degree.  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  gentle- 
man from  that  city  (Mr.  Thom)  cries  out  with  protracted 
utterance  and  in  piteous  tones  for  help,  while  I  think  that 
he  makes  a  capital  and  destructive  blunder  in  supposing 
that  the  elimination  of  the  negro  vote  will  bring  relief.  He 
is  aiming  to  heal  the  hurt  of  the  daughter  of  his  people 
slightly,  for  there  is  a  mass  of  vicious  and  incapable 
whites,  which  must  be  debarred  from  suffrage  before  it 
will  be  possible  for  a  better  state  of  things  to  exist.  What 
is  true  in  this  respect  of  Richmond  and  Norfolk  doubtless 
finds  its  counterpart  in  other  cities.  If  the  consensus  of 
opinion  of  delegates  on  this  floor  from  cities  of  the  first 
class  were  gathered,  it  would  probably  be  unanimous  in 
support  of  this  view. 

Soon  after  my  election  to  the  position  which  I  hold 
among  you,  I  received  a  letter  from  a  friend — one  of  my 
old  pupils — now  a  prominent  lawyer  in  one  of  our  moun- 
tain counties,  who  wrote  in  substance  as  follows : 

"We  have,  in county  an  ignorant  and  vicious' 

white  element  in  our  population,  which  is  as  destructive 
of  purity  in  politics,  and  as  injurious  to  good  government, 
as  the  negroes  are  in  your  section  of  the  State." 

I  was  not  unprepared  for  this  specific  information, 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  167 

having  for  the  past  twenty  years  spent  a  portion  of  every 
summer  in  this  region,  not  at  its  health  resorts',  but  among 
the  people  of  its  towns  and  counties ;  my  personal  obser- 
vation coinciding  with  and  confirming  the  testimony  of 
my  correspondent.  Moreover,  coming  nearer  home,  and 
referring  to  statements  made  on  this  floor,  before  our 
committees  and  in  private  conference,  the  conclusion  is 
inevitable  that  in  some  of  these  counties'  there  is  a  degree 
of  poverty,  illiteracy  and  lawlessness  among  whites  which 
must  be  reckoned  with  and  provided  against  if  our  or- 
ganic law  in  its  construction  and  administration  is  to  pro- 
mote and  maintain  the  dignity  of  the  Commonwealth  and 
to  accomplish  the  welfare  of  its  people.  We  must  prepare 
a  constitution  equal  and  just  in  its  provisions,  impartial  in 
its  application,  and  which  shall  be  effective  not  only  in 
curtailing  the  evils  we  deplore,  but  in  enlarging  the  intelli- 
gence, the  virtue,  the  prosperity,  and  the  happiness  of  all 
the  people. 

In  my  honest  judgment,  the  bete  noire  which  has  con- 
fronted this  convention  from  the  day  on  which  it  assem- 
bled up  to  the  present  hour,  which  has  palsied  its  energies' 
and  made  it  comparatively  inefficient  for  the  purposes 
which  called  it  together,  is  the  contention  that  it  is  our 
duty,  as  far  as  possible,  to  disfranchise  every  negro,  and, 
at  all  hazards,  to  enfranchise  every  white  man  in  the 
Commonwealth.  This  untenable  proposition  was  evi- 
dently adopted  as  a  truism  by  the  Suffrage  Committee  of 
this  convention,  was  made  the  basis  of  its  conferences, 
and  is  the  probable  explanation  of  the  unsatisfactory  and 
divergent  schemes  proposed  for  adoption.  Gentlemen 
have  been  trying  to  do  what,  in  the  nature  of  the  case  and 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  cannot  be 


j68  addresses  AND  PAPERS. 

done  without  fraud;  and  which,  if  the  inhibition  of  the 
Constitution  did  not  prevail,  ought  not,  under  existing 
conditions,  to  be  attempted.  This  question  of  suffrage  is 
broader  and  more  far-reaching  than  the  mere  matter  of 
curtaiUng  the  negro  vote,  imminent  and  imperative  as 
that  is.  It  concerns  the  honor,  the  welfare,  the  integrity 
of  the  State  as  a  whole,  and  must  be  dealt  with  as  such. 

I  beg  now,  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  to  ask  your 
attention  to  some  specific  facts,  gathered  not  from  per- 
sonal observation  or  from  authentic  rumor,  or  from  oral 
testimony,  but  based  on  authoritative  statistical  reports', 
compiled  by  State  officials,  most  of  which  are  in  the  hands 
of  every  member  of  this  convention,  in  support  of  my 
contention  that  in  order  to  subserve  the  interests  of  the 
Commonwealth  and  to  place  its  people  on  a  basis  of  sub- 
stantial and  enduring  prosperity,  conditions  must  be  met 
and  provided  for  in  no  single  section  of  the  State,  but  as 
they  exist  throughout  its  borders.  In  order  to  show  this 
conclusively  and  beyond  contradiction,  I  have  selected  for 
comparison  the  Ninth  Congressional  District  as  a  typical 
white  district,  and  the  Fourth  Congressional  District  as 
a  typical  negro  district.  I  propose  to  give  you  facts  and 
figures,  and  let  them  answer  the  question  whether  some 
common,  eflFective  remedy  is  not  needed  for  both,  to  cure 
the  evils  found  in  each. 

I  find  the  following  facts,  germane  to  this  subject,  in 
regard  to  the  Ninth  District: 

( 1 )  There  are  more  than  nine  times  as  many  white  as 
negro  voters'. 

(2)  There  are  4.6  white  voters  who  can  read  and 
write  for  one  who  canot  read  and  write. 

(3)  There  are  2.1  negro  voters  who  can  read  and 
write  for  one  who  cannot  read  and  write. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  169 

(4)  There  are  4.2  voters  of  both  races  who  can  read 
and  write  for  one  who  cannot  read  and  write. 

(5)  There  was  one  felony  for  the  year  1900  for  every 
105  voters. 

(6)  Taxes  are  paid  at  the  rate  of  $2.62  for  every 
voter. 

(7)  Delinquent  taxes  are  due  at  the  rate  of  44  cents 
for  every  voter. 

(8)  Allowance  for  jurors  paid  by  the  State  was  19.3 
for  every  voter. 

(9)  Received  into  the  penitentiary,  106;  or  one  in 
every  489  voters. 

(10)  Criminal  expenses  were  $38,482.77,  or  74  cents 
for  every  voter. 

Corresponding  facts  for  the  Fourth  District  are  as' 
follows : 

(i)  There  are  about  1-6  less  white  than  colored 
voters — that  is,  for  every  83-100  of  a  white  voter  there  is 
a  negro  voter;  or,  for  every  830  white  voters  there  are 
1,000  negro  voters. 

(2)  There  are  10.8  white  voters  who  can  read  and 
write  for  one  who  cannot  read  and  write. 

(3)  There  are  1.6  negro  voters  wha  can  read  and 
write  for  one  who  cannot  read  and  write. 

(4)  There  are  2.7  voters  of  both  races  who  can  read 
and  write  for  one  who  cannot  read  and  write. 

(5)  There  was  i  felony  case  in  1900  for  every  268 
voters. 

(6)  Taxes'  were  paid  at  the  rate  of  $3.11  for  every 
voter. 

(7)  Delinquent  taxes  are  due  at  the  rate  of  28  cents 
for  every  voter. 


170  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

(8)  Allowance  for  jurors  paid  by  the  State  was  9.7 
cents  for  every  voter. 

(9)  Received  into  the  penitentiary,  41 ;  or,  one  in 
every  912  voters. 

(10)  Criminal  expenses  were  $15,841.93,  or  42  cents 
for  every  voter. 

Comparing  these  facts  with  one  another,  we  find : 

First.  That  the  Ninth  District  has  greatly  the  advan- 
tage of  the  Fourth  in  the  preponderance  of  white  popula- 
tion ;  the  proportion  in  the  former  being  more  than  9  to 
I ;  in  the  latter,  less  than  a  half  of  the  whole. 

Second.  That  the  proportion  of  white  voters  who  can- 
not read  and  write  in  the  Ninth  District  is  more  than 
twice  as  great  as  in  the  Fourth  District. 

Third.  That  the  proportion  of  negro  voters  who  can 
read  and  write  in  the  Ninth  District  is  33  per  cent,  larger 
than  in  the  Fourth  District. 

Fourth.  That  the  number  of  both  races  who  can  read 
and  write  is  50  per  cent,  greater  in  the  Ninth  than  in  the 
Fourth  District,  in  proportion  to  voting  population. 

Fifth.  That  there  were  2i/^  times  more  felonies  in  pro- 
portion to  voting  population  in  1900  in  the  Ninth  District 
than  ill  the  Fourth. 

Sixth.  That  49  cents  more  taxes  in  proportion  to  vot- 
ing population  were  paid  per  capita  in  the  Fourth  than  in 
the  Ninth  District. 

Seventh;  That  delinquent  taxes  in  the  Ninth  District 
are  in  excess  of  those  in  the  Fourth,  at  the  rate  of  16 
cents  for  every  voter. 

Eighth.  That  allowance  for  jurors  paid  by  the  State  is 
twice  as  large  in  the  Ninth  as  in  the  Fourth  District. 

Ninth.  That  nearly  twice  as  many  in  proportion  to  the 


ADDRESSES  AMD  PAPERS.  171 

number  of  voters  were  received  into    the   penitentiary 
from  the  Ninth  District  as  from  the  Fourth  District. 

Tenth.  That  criminal  expenses  were  nearly  twice  as 
large  per  voter  in  the  Ninth  as'  in  the  Fourth  District. 

Now,  let  us  look  these  facts  squarely  in  the  face  and 
consider  their  significance.  Remember,  they  are  facts, 
and  you  cannot  get  away  from  them.  You  have  the  evi- 
dence on  which  they  rest  in  your  possession,  and  no  quib- 
bling or  tergiversation  or  denial  will  avail.  We  must 
accept  them,  reckon  with  them,  provide  against  them. 

There  is  a  bad  state  of  things  in  intelligence,  in  morals, 
and  in  economic  conditions  in  both  districts,  worse  on  the 
whole  in  the  Ninth  than  in  the  Fourth,  and  in  the  former 
ft  is  chiefly  among  the  whites,  while  in  the  latter  mainly 
among  the  negroes.  It  is  evident  that  in  both  there  are 
many  who  enjoy  the  privilege  of  suflFrage  who  have  no 
permanent  interest  in  the  community  and  no  intelligent 
apprehension  of  the  duties  growing  out  of  it,  and  who  are 
entirely  unfit  for  its  exercise.  In  the  Ninth  District,  as 
already  shown,  this  is  chiefly  among  the  whites ;  while  in 
the  Fourth  it  is  chiefly  among  the  negroes ;  but  whether 
white  or  black,  they  are  equally  unqualified  for  this  high 
function,  and  ought  not  to  possess  it. 

It  is  contended  by  some  that  voting  is  a  right,  and  not 
a  privilege ;  that  it  is  inalienable  and  indefeasible,  and  that 
no  man  can  be  justly  deprived  of  it.  This  position  has 
been  asserted  on  this  floor;  but  it  is  evident,  from  the 
history  of  governments — the  American  Republic  in  com- 
mon with  others — that  it  cannot  be  maintained.  No  man 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  vote  who  has  not  sufficient  intelli- 
gence to  understand  what  he  is  doing,  and,  besides,  has 
not  some  interest  in  the  government,  which  will  induce 


172  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

him  to  vote  aright  As  a  fact,  paupers,  idiots,  criminals', 
duellists,  women  and  minors  are  disfranchised,  and  the 
reason  which  underlies  these  exceptions  is  the  reason  on 
which  I  insist  as  the  sufficient  ground  for  the  disfran- 
chisement of  those  who  have  not  something  at  stake  in  the 
maintenance  of  law  and  o^der,  whether  they  be  of  the 
Caucasian  or  the  African  race. 

A  friend  has  furnished  me  some  extracts  from  The 
Outlook,  an  influential  journal  published  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  on  this  subject,  which  seem  to  be  sound  and 
incontrovertible.  In  the  issue  of  May  24th  last  the  editor 
says :  "No  man  has  a  natural  right  to  share  in  the  govern- 
ment under  which  he  lives.  He  has  a  right  to  be  pro- 
tected in  his'  person,  property,  family,  reputation  and 
liberty;  and  if  the  government  affords  such  protection, 
he  has  no  ground  on  which  to  demand,  as  his  right,  per- 
mission to  participate  in  it.  Suffrage  is  a  prerogative  and 
responsibility,  and  who  shall  exercise  that  responsibility 
is  to  be  determined  by  the  existing  government.  This  is  a 
practice  justified  both  by  philosophy  and  history," 

In  the  issue  of  July  27th  he  wrote  as  follows:  "The 
argument  that  suffrage  is  a  natural  right  appears  to  be 
specious  rather  than  sound.  The  argument  may  be  thus 
stated :  'No  man  is  wise  enough  and  good  enough  to  gov- 
ern his  fellow-man ;  no  class  is  wise  enough  to  govern  an- 
other class ;  therefore  every  man  should  share  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  State.'  That  conclusion  is  a  non  sequitur. 
The  fact  that  no  man  is  wise  enough  and  good  enough  to 
govern  his  fellow-man  does  not  warrant  the  conclusion 
that  every  man  is  wise  enough  and  good  enough  to  share 
in  governing  his  fellow-man.  Suffrage  is  an  artificial,  not 
a  natural  right.     It  is  created  by,  and  dependent  upon, 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  173 

law;  a  means  and  not  an  end;  and  the  conditions  on 
which  it  should  be  granted  by  those  who  have  it  to  those 
who  have  it  not  are  wholly  to  be  determined  by  the  con- 
sideration of  the  question,  What  conditions  of  suflfrage 
will  probably  secure  the  more  stable,  just  and  free  gov- 
ernment ?" 

These  principles  appear  to  me  unanswerable,  and 
emanating  from  New  York  city,  and  the  source  from 
which  they  come,  have  special  significance  at  this  time. 

But  it  may  be  said  in  reply  to  this  contention,  that  it 
makes  no  distinction  between  the  white  man  and  the 
negro;  that  the  United  States  Government  recognizes 
racial  lines  in  the  disfranchisement  of  Indians  and 
Chinese,  and  that  the  negroes  ought,  as  a  race,  to  be  de- 
prived of  suffrage. 

In  reply,  I  beg  to  say,  that  no  member  of  this  conven- 
tion, and  no  citizen  of  Virginia,  is  more  profoundly  con- 
vinced than  I  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  superiority  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  and  the  corresponding  inferiority  of  the 
African  and  American  negro.  I  believe  that  they  are 
separated  by  nature  and  the  God  of  nature  by  an  im- 
passable gulf,  and  I  view  with  horror  anything  looking 
towards  breaking  down  the  social  and  domestic  barriers 
naturally  and  necessarily  existing  between  them.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  there  are  few 
Virginians,  if  any,  who,  from  childhood  to  mature  years, 
in  times  of  slavery,  during  the  war  between  the  States, 
and  since  that  period,  have  lived  on  nearer  terms'  of  kind- 
ness and  sympathy  and  confidence  with  the  negroes  than 
I.  I  know  their  good  points;  I  appreciate  their  weak- 
nesses ;  I  have  done,  and  shall  continue  to  do,  all  in  my 
power  for  their  welfare.    I  am  their  friend,  as  I  am  the 


174  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

friend  of  the  white  man,  devoutly  desiring  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  both,  at  the  same  time  recognizing  the 
disparity  between  them,  and  the  absolute  social  and  do- 
mestic separation  which  must  continue  to  exist;  but,  so 
far  as  regards  the  matted  in  hand,  as  to  the  right  of  suf- 
frage, dealt  with  fairly  and  squarely  under  the  domina- 
tion of  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  amendments  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  there  is  no  difference. 
We  may  justly  inveigh  against  these  amendments.  We 
may  denounce  them  as  the  outgrowth  of  passion  and  hate 
and  political  corruption ;  but  there  they  are,  a  part  of  the 
organic  law  of  the  land,  recognized  and  sanctified  as 
such  by  a  section  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  already  adopted  by 
this  convention. 

This  being  true  beyond  contradiction,  it  is  in  order  to 
ask,  as  I  now  do  for  your  candid  consideration,  Who  is 
the  more  injurious  factor  in  a  community,  an  ignorant, 
immoral  and  lazy  white  man,  or  an  ignorant,  immoral  and 
lazy  negro?  Who  of  these  goes  most  readily  from  vice 
to  crime,  and  by  his  crime  most  frequently  darkens  the 
fair  escutcheon  of  the  Commonwealth  ?  Who  contributes 
less  to  the  productive  energy  of  the  State,  and  is"  more  apt 
to  continue  in  poverty  and  degradation  ?  Without  pausing 
for  a  reply  or  consuming  your  time  in  fine-spun  distinc- 
tions, which  add  nothing  to  the  elucidation  of  the  subject, 
I  reply  emphatically,  and  in  view  of  what  has  already  been 
said,  both;  both  are  "injurious  factors  in  a  community"; 
both  "readily  pass  from  vice  to  crime" ;  "neither  contri- 
butes anything  to  the  wealth  and  welfare  of  the  State" ; 
and  as  a  corollary,  I  add,  that  both  ought  to  be  eliminated 
from  the  sovereign  and  controlling  element  of  society, 
and  have  pressure  and  incentive  brought  to  bear  upon 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  175 

them  to  elevate  themselves  and  fit  themselves  for  citizen- 
ship, and  to  see  that  their  children  attain  a  higher  plane  of 
virtue,  intelligence  and  economic  worth  than  they  occupy. 

It  is  now  time  to  consider  what  are  the  qualifications 
for  suffrage  which  ought  to  be  laid  down  for  all  classes  of 
our  people — in  the  east  and  the  west,  in  the  mountains 
and  by  the  sea,  for  whites'  and  blacks  alike.  What  are  the 
terms  which  are  believed  to  be  equal  and  just  in  their  ap- 
plication, and  which  will  probably  prove  effective  in  elimi- 
nating the  evils  we  deplore  and  in  promoting  gradually 
but  surely  the  permanent  welfare  of  the  people  of  the 
Commonwealth  ? 

This  is  the  question  which  has  been  uppermost  in  the 
thoughts  of  many  members  of  the  convention  from  the 
day  of  its  assembling,  and  which  impends  at  present  and 
authoritatively  demands  a  reply,  and  to  which,  in  my 
judgment,  the  gentleman  from  King  George  (Mr.  Mon- 
cure)  has  contributed  the  nearest  approximation  to  a  cor- 
rect answer  yet  submitted  to  the  convention. 

If  the  facts  heretofore  stated  be  true,  and  the  princi- 
ples announced  sound  (and  they  seem  to  be  incontrovert- 
ible), the  answer  to  this  inquiry  is  not  far  to  seek,  and  it 
is  this : 

Let  those  citizens  of  Virginia,  not  debarred  by  other 
sections  of  the  Constitution,  who  are  assessed  with  a  poll- 
tax  of  $1.50  and  a  State  tax  on  property  of  the  value  of 
at  least  $150,  be  registered  and  remain  on  the  registration 
list  permanently.  Before  they  are  allowed  to  vote,  require 
a  certificate  to  be  presented  to  the  officers  of  election, 
showing  that  these  taxes  have  been  paid  six  months  be- 
fore election.  After  January  i,  1904,  require  every  appli- 
cant for  registration,  in  addition  to  the  above  prerequi- 


176  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

sites,  to  present  his  application  in  writing,  done  with  his' 
own  hand  in  the  presence  of  the  registrar.  Make  no  ex- 
emptions except  of  soldiers  resident  in  Virginia  who  have 
actually  served  in  time  of  war  in  the  armies  of  some  State 
of  the  Union,  or  of  the  Confederate  States,  or  of  the 
United  States.    Add  the  viva  voce  vote,  and  stop. 

This  simple  prescription,  equally  administered,  will 
give  us  a  clean-cut  franchise  law,  which  will,  at  one 
stroke,  lop  off  a  large  mass  of  the  incompetent  and  cor- 
rupt voting  population  of  the  State,  and  put  its  govern- 
ment in  the  hands  of  the  intelligent  tax-paying  portion  of 
its  citizens.  It  will  be  effective  in  ridding  us  of  the  ignor- 
ant and  vicious  negroes,  and  of  the  abandoned  and  worth- 
less whites,  and  will  insure  the  vote  being  counted,  and 
reported  as  cast. 

The  chief  objection  that  I  have  heard  urged  to  this 
scheme  of  suffrage  is  that,  along  with  many  stupid  and 
vicious  whites,  some  worthy  and  good  citizens  will  be  dis- 
franchised. And  this  is  doubtless  true;  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  this  is  one  of  the  necessary  incidents  of 
organized  society,  and  that  no  citizen  has  a  right  to  com- 
plain of  such  abridgement  or  to  regard  it  as  a  hardship, 
when  it  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  body  politic. 
Every  one  of  us  has  to  yield  many  rights  and  privileges 
by  reason  of  our  relations  to  society,  and  whatever  is 
necessary  for  the  social  well-being  must  be  given  up  by 
the  individual.  I  will  not  insult  your  intelligence  and 
waste  your  time  in  arguing  or  illustrating  this  proposition. 
It  is  self-evidently  true  and  universally  recognized. 

It  is  also  reasonably  true  that  most  of  those  fit  by  in- 
telligence and  character  to  discharge  the  duty  of  suffrage, 
and  who  are  disfranchised,  will  not  continue  long  in  this 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  177 

position,  but  will  be  incited  to  go  to  work  to  accumulate 
something,  and  will  soon  enter  the  ranks  of  qualified 
voters,  who  will  contribute  to  the  welfare  of  the  State,  to 
their  own  personal  benefit,  and  to  the  exaltation  of  the 
dignity  and  prosperity  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Some  of  the  grounds  on  which  this  simple  and  effec- 
tive mode  of  dealing  with  this  important  subject  are  based 
are  as  follows : 

1.  It  is  honest  and  just  and  right.  You  need  no  "un- 
derstanding clause"  or  "grandfather  provision,"  about 
which  thoughtful  men  everywhere  not  only  doubt,  but 
from  which  they  shrink  with  moral  aversion.  You  will 
not  be  afraid  of  the  courts.  Conscience  will  not  torment 
you.  You  can  look  into  the  face  of  God  and  feel  that  you 
have  His  approval. 

As  has  already  been  shown,  no  man  is  entitled  to  the 
privilege  of  voting  who  does  not  value  it  and  know  how 
to  use  it,  and  who  has  no  such  interest  in  the  community 
as  will  conduce  to  his  using  it  aright.  No  injustice  is  done 
any  one  who  has  not  character  and  industry  enough  to 
accumulate  the  paltry  sum  needed  to  make  him  a  voter, 
and  if  at  first  some  worthy  men  are  debarred,  it  is  not 
injustice  to  them,  but  an  incentive  to  put  themselves  in  a 
position  where  they  can  be  admitted  to  suffrage  right- 
eously. 

2.  The  adoption  of  such  a  suffrage  requirement  will 
immediately  add  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
names  to  the  list  of  tax-payers  within  the  State.  Who  can 
estimate  the  number  in  Virginia  at  the  present  time  who 
exercise  the  right  of  voting  and  who  have  far  more  than 
$150  worth  of  property,  but  who  never  list  or  pay  taxes 
on  their  property  ?    Such  men  will  be  brought  to  the  book, 


178  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

and  if  they  wish  to  vote  will  have  to  come  forward  and 
bear  some  share  of  the  burden  of  sustaining  the  govern- 
ment. 

3.  Another  desirable  end  that  will  be  accompHshed  is 
found  in  the  incentive  furnished  the  young  men  of  the 
Commonwealth  to  save,  instead  of  squandering,  their 
earnings ;  to  accumulate  something,  so  that  they  may  be- 
come and  be  recognized  as  independent  and  rightful 
voters,  with  all  the  privileges'  and  immunities  appertain- 
ing thereto.  At  present  our  young  men  have  no  such  in- 
centive and  inspiration,  and  too  many  of  them  not  only 
live  up  to,  but  squander  their  means  and  acquire  habits  of 
thriftlessness,  and  instead  of  becoming  productive  factors 
grow  into  bummers  and  incompetents  and  dead-heads — 
an  incubus  on  society.  Now,  let  our  young  men  learn  that 
in  order  to  occupy  a  reputable  position  among  their  fel- 
lows, they  must  be  possessed  of  this  modicum  of  property 
and  they  will  go  to  work  to  acquire  it,  and,  having  suc- 
ceeded, the  desire  of  accumulation  will  be  stimulated,  and 
the  number  of  thrifty  and  independent  citizens  will  be 
largely  increased.  I  verily  believe  that  if  this  scheme  be 
adopted  more  will  be  done  for  the  financial  progress  of 
the  State,  for  its  economic  strength,  for  its  growth  in 
moral  power,  than  by  any  other  means  that  can  be  de- 
vised. Who  can  doubt  that  within  ten  years  the  number 
of  tax-payers  in  old  Virginia  will  be  at  least  doubled,  and 
perhaps  trebled ;  that  capable  men  will  be  found  for  posi- 
tions of  importance  in  our  cities  and  towns,  and  that  our 
country  regions,  now  being  stripped  of  population,  will 
gradually  fill  up  with  aspiring  and  earnest  men,  who  will 
add  to  the  resources  of  the  Commonwealth  by  increasing 
its  productive  capacity,  and  found  homes,  which  will  be 
the  abode  of  comfort  and  happiness. 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  179 

4.  The  last  ground  on  which  I  put  the  proposition  I 
support  is  that  it  will  do  much  to  purify  politics  by  purg- 
ing and  elevating  the  electorate.  As  at  present  consti- 
tuted, the  voting  population  in  a  portion  of  the  State  con- 
sists largely  of  ignorant  negroes,  who  have  no  more  intel- 
ligent interest  in  the  result  of  elections  than  so  many 
sheep.  In  other  portions  of  the  Commonwealth  there  is 
by  no  means  so  large,  but  an  appreciable,  element  of 
white  voters  more  venal  than  the  negroes,  and  in  politics 
more  corrupt.  Both  these  elements  will  be  eliminated, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  bossism  and  ring-rule  will  be 
abated;  honorable,  intelligent  gentlemen,  who,  under  the 
corruption  now  existing,  have  withdrawn  from  the  arena, 
will  come  forward  as  active  and  controlling  factors  in  the 
government,  to  the  manifest  improvement  of  every  inter- 
est held  dear  by  intelligent  people.  Thus,  instead  of  the 
rascality  and  fraud  so  commonly  practiced,  and  the  con- 
sequent choice  of  incompetent  and  sometimes  of  base 
men,  for  governmental  service,  we  may  expect  to  see  the 
return  of  the  day  when  Virginia's  honored  sons  are 
among  the  foremost  in  the  land,  and  the  old  Common- 
wealth shall  take  and  hold  her  rightful  place  in  the  galaxy 
of  States'. 

But  I  will  be  asked,  What  about  the  Norfolk  Demo- 
cratic Convention  of  1900?  Did  it  not  promise  that  no 
white  man  shall  be  disfranchised?"  To  which  I  reply  by 
asking,  "Did  the  Norfolk  convention  have  authority  to 
make  such  a  promise  ?"  "Was  not  its  action  in  this  mat- 
ter ultra  vires?"  "If  it  had  power  to  bind  this  convention 
in  this  respect,  does  not  its  power  to  bind  reach  to  any 
and  every  other  point  which  it  chose  to  handle  ?"  This  is' 
a  reductio  ad  ahsurdum,  and  I  therefore  assert,  without 


i8o  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  the  dictum  of  that 
convention  has  no  more  legitimate  force  on  this  body  or 
on  any  member  of  it  than  the  pronunciamento  of  the 
secret  conclave  of  the  Pope  of  Rome,  or  of  a  circle  of 
mumbling  Buddhist  priests  in  India  or  China.  We  are 
here  to  obey  the  behests  of  no  man  or  body  of  men,  but  to 
consult  together  and  conclude  v^hat  is  best  for  the  people 
of  Virginia,  and  to  embody  that  in  its  organic  lav^r. 

"But  what  about  the  promises  made  before  the  late 
election  on  the  hustings  and  in  the  newspapers,  by  certain 
members  of  this  convention,  and  other  trustworthy  citi- 
zens, to  the  effect  that  no  white  man  of  Virginia  shall  be 
disfranchised  as  the  result  of  our  work?"  To  which  I 
reply,  as  I  have  frequently  replied  to  such  inquiries,  that 
the  convention  has  never  made  any  stich  pledge,  and  that 
the  promise  rests  on  the  responsibility  of  those  who  made 
it,  and  only  on  that.  It  is  far  from  my  purpose  to  reflect 
on  their  action  or  to  impugn  their  motives.  All  that  I  as- 
sert is  that  their  action  does  not  bind  me  or  this  conven- 
tion. They  are  intelligent,  they  are  upright,  they  knew 
what  they  were  doing,  they  are  responsible  for  what  they 
have  done  ;  but  they  cannot  implicate  me  or  any  other  per- 
son for  whom  they  were  not  specifically  authorized  to 
speak. 

But  I  am  told  that  "the  statements  were  made;  that 
they  were  made  by  gentlemen  of  character  and  worth" ; 
and  it  is  added,  "that  if  they  were  not  contradicted,  any 
man  who  failed  to  contradict  them  became  responsible  for 
them !" 

Were  there  not  such  an  element  of  Jesuitry  and  dan- 
gerous error  in  this  contention  as  to  render  it  destructive 
of  good  morals  and  of  the  very  foundations  of  society,  it 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  i8i 

is  so  silly  as  to  be  amusing  and  mirth-provoking.  That  I, 
forsooth,  can  give  to  the  world  an  opinion  in  regard  to 
some  important  matter  within  the  province  of  this  con- 
vention, and  an  assurance  that  it  will  be  done  in  order 
that  certain  conditions  may  be  brought  about,  and  that,  as 
a  consequence,  any  one  or  all  of  you,  who  become  cogni- 
zant of  the  facts  and  fail  to  declare  yourselves  to  the  con- 
trary, put  yourselves  under  obligation  when  the  matter 
comes  before  the  convention  to  sustain  my  opinion  by 
youf  vote  and  to  bring  to  pass  the  prophesy  I  have  made, 
is  too  ridiculous  to  be  considered. 

If  moral  absurdity  can  rise  higher  than  this,  I  can  re- 
call no  instance  of  it  in  the  course  of  history  or  exper- 
ience. 

We  stand  here,  then,  gentlemen,  as  freemen,  intelli- 
gent freemen,  with  no  shackles  on  our  limbs  or  con- 
sciences ;  not  to  do  what  others  dictate,  but  what  our  in- 
telligent judgments  indicate  to  be  right  and  best  for  the 
interests  of  the  great  State  we  represent ;  and  I  beg  you 
not  to  disgrace  the  "Mother  of  States  and  Statesmen"  by 
putting  such  equivocal  and  suspicious  provisions  into  her 
Constitution  as  the  "understanding"  and  the  "grand- 
father" clauses.  I  assure  you  that  neither  of  these  pro- 
visions meets  with  the  approval  of  the  enlightened  and 
God-fearing  people  of  Virginia.  I  have  talked  to  many 
citizens  of  Richmond,  and  of  other  portions  of  the  State, 
and  have  met  with  none  who  do  not  spue  these  things  out 
of  their  mouths.  The  idea  of  enacting  anything  that  may 
be  repudiated  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
is  abhorrent  to  them  and  to  me.  On  the  contrary,  they 
demand  that  we  shall  resort  to  the  same  honorable  and 
straightforward  means  used  by  the  fathers  and  founders 


i82  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

of  the  republic  in  order  to  rid  the  electorate  of  the  ignor- 
ant and  incompetent  classes.  There  is  no  other  way  of 
doing  it  that  I  have  seen  pointed  out,  or  that  I  can  think 
of,  in  accord  with  the  maintenance  of  the  honor  and  dig- 
nity of  the  Commonwealth,  or  of  our  own  personal  in- 
tegrity. 

But  there  is  a  knottier  problem  yet  to  be  considered — 
a  question  of  casuistry — which  probably  perplexes  and 
rests  heavily  on  the  minds  of  some  of  the  members  of  this 
convention.  It  may  be  stated  thus :  What  is  the  man  to  do 
who  in  his  canvass,  or  as  a  condition  to  his  election  as  a 
member  of  the  convention,  specifically  stated  that  so  far 
as  he  is  concerned,  he  would  vote  for  the  disfranchise- 
ment of  no  white  man?  How  is  he  to  get  around  this 
pledge?  How  is  he  to  retain  his'  self  respect  and  the  confi- 
dence of  his  fellow-citizens  if  he  votes  for  a  scheme  of 
suffrage  which,  in  the  nature  of  things,  must  disfranchise 
some  of  this  class  ? 

Suppose  that  there  is  a  member  of  this  convention 
who  stands  in  this  attitude,  who  put  himself  in  it  believ- 
ing that  it  was  possible  to  maintain  it,  and  that  it  was  for 
the  welfare  of  Virginia  that  it  should  be  maintained,  but 
who  has  now  become  convinced  that  it  is  impracticable, 
that  the  best  interests  of  the  Commonwealth,  its  honor 
and  its  dignity,  the  virtue  and  the  well-being  of  its  peo- 
ple, demand,  that,  along  with  the  great  mass  of  irrespon- 
sible negroes',  some  irresponsible  whites  must  be  debarred 
from  suffrage :  is  he  bound  to  be  guided  and  governed  in 
his  actions  as  a  member  of  this  convention  by  former 
and  immature  impressions  or  by  later  and  settled  convic- 
tions of  what  he  deems  right  and  just  and  honest,  and 
demanded  by  every  interest  of  enlightened  statesmanship, 


ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS.  183 

by  every  economic  and  moral  consideration  looking  to  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  people?  He  is  in  a  di- 
lemma !  Which  horn  shall  he  choose  ?  He  must  take  one 
or  the  other !  If  he  acts  on  former  and  immature,  though 
honest,  impressions  formed  and  expressed  prior  to  neces- 
sary investigation,  he  violates  present  intelligent  convic- 
tions, casts  his  vote  against  what  he  believes  to  be  essen- 
tial to  the  good  of  society,  and,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  does' 
what  he  can  to  perpetuate  the  degradation  of  his  people, 
acting  as  a  mere  tool  to  carry  out  the  ignorant  and  ill- 
considered  wishes  of  his  constituency.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  follows  the  leading  of  his  conscience  and  judg- 
ment, enlightened  and  instructed  by  a  more  thorough  per- 
ception of  the  facts  of  the  case  and  the  demands'  of  his 
situation,  he  acknowledges  himself  to  have  been  guilty  of 
error  in  making  a  heedless  pledge,  but  fulfils  his  duty  as  a 
representative  of  the  people  by  obtaining  for  them  a  form 
of  government  which  shall  promote  their  best  interests, 
and  in  its  wholesome  and  health-giving  effects  tend  to 
crown  the  old  Commonwealth  with  glory  and  honor. 

Mr.  Chairman,  all  of  us  were  probably  told  in  our 
childhood,  by  honorable  and  solicitious  parents,  that  "two 
wrongs  never  make  a  right."  So  far  from  its  being  true 
that  because  a  man  has  been  guilty  of  a  wrong  he  ought  to 
adhere  to  it,  exactly  the  reverse  is  true.  Just  so  soon  as  I 
am  convinced  that  I  am  wrong  in  thought,  in  feeling,  in 
action,  I  must  forsake  it,  turn  from  it,  and  choose  and  do 
the  right.  "To  thine  own  self  be  true,  and  it  will  follow 
as  the  day,  the  night,  thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to 
any  man." 

Some  of  you,  I  am  sure,  will  remember  that  pregnant 
sentence    which    flowed    from  the  pen  of  the  immortal 


i84  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS. 

Robert  E.  Lee  in  a  letter  to  one  of  his  sons,  then  a  cadet 
at  West  Point:  "Duty,"  says  he,  "is  the  sublimest  word 
in  the  EngUsh  language."  What  we  ought  to  do,  it  is  our 
duty  to  do.  Duty  is  present,  pressing,  imperative — what 
the  great  Kant  called  "the  categorical  imperative."  It 
cannot  be  guiltlessly  shirked,  but  must  be  unflinchingly 
met  and  discharged,  and  the  obligation  resting  on  every 
one  of  us  is  to  meet  our  responsibility  as  we  see  it,  know- 
ing that  we  must  give  account  to  our  consciences,  to  our 
fellow-men,  and  to  our  God. 

Rev.  Lewis  W.  Green,  D.  D.,  who  was  well  known  in 
Virginia  fifty  years  ago  as  one  of  its  most  learned,  elo- 
quent and  useful  citizens,  has  left  on  record  a  sentence 
something  like  the  following:  "Honesty, honesty, honesty ! 
Nothing  but  upright,  downright,  straightforward  honesty 
will  avail  as  the  basis  of  good  character." 

And  so  I  say  that  "honesty — and  nothing  but  honesty, 
upright,  downright,  straightforward  honesty" — will  an- 
swer in  the  framework  of  the  fundamental  law  of  an  en- 
lightened Commonwealth! 

I  thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  for  your 
kind  and  patient  attention  I 


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